In a major development, the Uttar Pradesh Crime Branch has apprehended three people for trafficking 15 underage children to the National Capital from Bihar.
As per reports, the accused have been identified as Sayyaz Alam, Deepak Rishi and Vikrant Mandal. The child traffickers had gathered 15 children from different parts of Bihar under the pretext of offering them jobs. They claimed to have the consent of the family members of the victims, before boarding them on a bus. The accused were apprehended in Gorakhpur while they were trying to smuggle the children.
While speaking about the development, SP (Gorakhpur) Mahendra Pal Singh said that a case was registered against the three accused under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, Section 79 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 370 (5) for trafficking. He informed that three men are residents of Bihar and were arrested by the Crime Branch from Tendua toll plaza in Gorakhpur.
Victims counselled, claimed that they were being promised a trip to Delhi
SP Mahendra Pal Singh said that the Crime Branch had received a tip-off about an incoming bus (UP 83/2955) from Bihar, smuggling underage children. As such, the police stopped the said bus at the toll plaza at around 12:50 am and rescued the children. The police officer informed that the victims have been handed over to ChildLine and are being provided counselling. They will be soon be handed over to their family members. During the counselling, the children said that the trio told them that they were being taken for a trip to the National Capital.
Accused have been smuggling children to Delhi for money
On interrogating accused Sayyaz Alam, he confessed to smuggling 6 children from Bihar to Jaipur. He admitted that he had two minor in his possession. It must be mentioned that Alam is a neighbour of the two underage children. In his defence, he claimed that the other children had come along with him in search of work with consent from their family members.
The other accused, named Deepak Rishi, also trafficked 4 children to put them in dairy shops. He claimed to have travelled with the children for the first time, in search of jobs. SP Mahendra Pal Singh said that the accused had been smuggling children to the National Capital in exchange for a commission.
