16 minors rescued from old Delhi railway station, 5 arrested

Sixteen children from villages of Bihar, West Bengal and Nepal were today rescued from Old Delhi railway station while they were being trafficked to Ludhiana.

Acting on a complaint filed by the NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), a team of Delhi Police, Railway Police and BBA activists raided the platform numbers 10 and 11 of Old Delhi railway station and rescued 16 minor boys, including four from Nepal, and five local agents were also arrested, police said.

The children, who are between nine to 16 years of age, were brought here by Bhramaputra Mail and were being trafficked to Ludhiana to work there.

The boys were being taken to Ludhiana on the pretext of providing better employment opportunities and high regular wages while working in various garment factories, shops and farms. Parents of some of these children were not aware that their sons were being trafficked to Ludhiana.

"I have eight siblings and my parents recently passed away. I had no other option but to explore better employment opportunities outside my village," said Girdhar, a 14-year-old boy from Nepal.

The chairman of BBA, Kailash Satyarthi said that Delhi is increasing becoming a hub of trafficking.

"The capital city is the epicentre with children from different states being trafficked via Delhi. It is one of the biggest transitory camps. This fact again is reinstated with the illegal functioning of over 2000 placement agencies in the capital," he said.