463 children rescued from railways this year

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) rescued as many as 514 persons including 463 minor boys and girls from railway premises till July this year.

Chief public relations officer of NFR, Subhanan Chanda said the minor boys and girls were rescued from railway premises like stations and trains before they could be lured by anti-social elements. "Nine human traffickers were also arrested red-handed, who were transporting minors in trains. There were 171 minor girls and 292 minor boys among the rescued children," Chanda said in a statement.

Northeast, Bengal and parts of Bihar come under NFR. The headquarters of NFR is situated here at Maligaon.

Railways have been a preferred mode of transport for criminals trafficking children from Assam and rest of the Northeast, identified as one of the major sources of trafficking. The RPF has been carrying out the drive and has rescued many children, including from the clutches of traffickers.

In 2018, as many as 669 minor boys and girls were rescued from railway premises. "Rescued children are normally handed over to their parents or various NGOs such as Child Line. Various squads of RPF are regularly conducting checks at railway premises to prevent such cases. It is known that gang of traffickers are very much active in this region who abduct children and women and transport them to other parts of the country. The arrested traffickers are handed over to GRP for taking necessary action under law," said the statement.