Fifteen children — many of them from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — who were being taken for labour to various locations in Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in Jan Nayak Express (15211), were rescued from Ambala Cantonment Railway Station on late Wednesday night.
Following a tip-off, a team of Zila Yuva Vikas Sangathan, along with the Government Railway Police, Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and Ambala Cantonment Railway Protection Force, inspected the train and rescued the children.
Sangathan programme coordinator Ajay Tiwari said the tip-off was received on the toll-free number of Just Rights for Children Alliance. The information was shared with the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Ambala; GRP, Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and RPF, Ambala Cantonment. Around 11 pm on Tuesday, a special checking operation was conducted and 15 children were rescued.
Tiwari added that during preliminary inquiry, the children revealed that four of them were being sent to a factory in Ambala for thread making. They had already been given an advance payment of Rs 5,000 each and were promised a monthly salary of Rs 10,000 each. While two others were on their way to Himachal Pradesh, the remaining children were headed to Punjab.
“Some children were being sent to a ‘jeera’ factory in Jalandhar. They had been paid Rs 2,000 advance and were promised Rs 12,000 per month. As per the rescued children, they were expected to work from 8 am to 8 pm daily,” Tiwari added.
Following the completion of DDR and medical procedures, all children were produced before Ranjeeta Sachdeva, Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee, Ambala. They were sent to Open Shelter Home for care and protection.
Zila Yuva Vikas Sangathan’s president Parmjeet Singh Badola stated that the team acted promptly upon receiving the information and rescued the children safely. Efforts are being made to trace the families of the children.
Many of the rescued children belong to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. He added that ensuring the safety and bright future of children is a collective responsibility of society. To curb child trafficking, society, administration and social organisations must work together in coordination. The government is also making efforts for protection and rehabilitation of children, he added.
This was the third such rescue operation in May. Earlier, 15 and 11 children were rescued in two search operations in Karam Bhoomi Express on May 14 and 21, respectively.
