As many as 163 Muslim minor boys who were allegedly being trafficked from Bihar to Maharashtra, on the alleged pretext of education, to work as laborers were rescued from an express train in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district, the railway police said on Sunday.
The eight accused, in the meantime, have said that the children were taken to Latur’s madrassa for education. The joint operations were by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police on the tip-off provided by the Child Welfare Committee.
Following the operation, as per the reports of the news agency PTI, the preliminary information reveals that the children, aged between six and 13, were taken from Bihar’s Araria region to Maharashtra’s Latur region.
Suspension grew as no valid travel documents were recovered, prompting authorities to launch joint rescue operations, eventually wrapping it up at Sunday dawn, RPF Katni inspector Virendra Singh told PTI.
The children were traveling in the sleeper class of the express train, with around 50 of them in a compartment.
Furthermore, Singh said that the GRP has registered a case under section 143(4) (trafficking of a child below the age of eighteen years) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the eight accused, belonging to different districts of Bihar.
What Does the Initial Investigation Reveal?
According to initial investigations, the boys were being taken to Latur to make them work as laborers, and further investigation is underway. The news agency PTI further reported that the Katni station house officer (SHO) L. P. Kashyap said that both the reduced children and the accused belonged to the Muslim community.
“During questioning, they (the accused) have claimed that the children were being taken for education purposes to a madrasa in Latur. We have contacted some parents, who have also said that they have sent their wards for education,” the GRP officer said.
“We are investigating the case. The accused, who have been booked on the charges of trafficking, will be produced in court,” he added.
The Child Welfare Committee (CWC), according to the officials, got the cognizance that a large number of children were being transported under suspicious circumstances. Following this, security personnel launched a search on the train and took the children safely into custody.
Meanwhile, efforts have started to contact their parents, and officials are verifying their age, identity, and purpose of travel, he said.
