As many as 16 minor students from Bihar and UP have been detained by the Railway Protection Force and the child protection authorities at Palakkad district in Kerala owing to want of proper records.
The students were being brought to Veda Patasala at Karigarapully in Palakkad district by train. All were boys in the six to 16 age group. Some of them did not have consent letters of parents or any other documents and hence they were detained on Tuesday and shifted to a children's home.
District child protection officer Subha S and officials of Childline visited the children and directed the authorities of the Veda Patasala to produce the required documents within ten days.
An official told DH that so far there is nothing to suspect that the incident is related to child trafficking. Among the 16 children, ten were already studying at the Veda Patasala. They went to their native place in August on vacation. Six other children accompanied them when they were returning to Kerala. The Veda Patasala authorities maintained that they were being brought with the consent of their parents. Hence they were asked to produce the documents.
Veda Patasala manager E R Ganesan also said that there were no illegalities and all the necessary documents would be produced soon.
The issue triggered suspicions as earlier there were incidents of children from other states being trafficked to Kerala by children's homes with the main intention of getting government grants for children.
An official of the Palakkad district police said that there is no such suspicions in the present incident.
All the students were also quarantined as per the Covid-19 protocol.
Published 11 November 2020, 14:52 IST