Railway authorities bust huge trafficking racket, rescue children

BENGALURU: The anti-children trafficking squad of the Railway Police, along with the city police, recently busted a large network of child trafficking rackets in Bengaluru, which has alarmed civil society. It is  said that gangs lure children on the pretext of work railway stations and then traffic them.

South Western general manager Kusuma said, “Bengaluru city has attracted the attention of the world. But an alarming fact has come to light that minor children are being illegally trafficked, with the lure of urban lifestyle and work. Children are being brought to Bengaluru from other states and many districts of Karnataka and transported for various kinds of works. The Railway Protection Force and the Government Railway Police Force (GRPF) apprehended child traffickers at Sangolli Rayanna City railway station, Yeshwantpur railway station, SMVT Railway station and rescued the children. South Western Railway Bangalore Division officials have recorded 4 per cent rise in child trafficking cases”.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) had rescued 7,000 children from 2018 to early 2023. More than 2,700 children have been rescued in 2022-23 alone, she added.

“The gangs lure minors from many states including Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Haryana and Rajasthan to the railway stations in the city. All of them have come to Bengaluru through agents. Cases of child-lifting came to light when checking the documents of children at railway stations. Children of Yadgir, Raichur, Kalaburagi in North Karnataka are also trapped by this network. The Bosco team at Majestic railway station, the Sathiya SMVT team at Yeshwantpur railway station, along with ‘Mission Vastalya’ NGO team, kept close watch on the movements of the children, identified them, and raided those who were lifting children”, the South Western Railway general manager said.

“The rescued children are handed over to the District Child Welfare Committee. The issue came to light when the rescued children were questioned. It was found that they came to the city through mutual contacts. Many children got off trains at different stations, including KR Puram, Whitefield, Bangarapet on the outskirts of Bengaluru as the officials at the City railway station have tightened the checking. The railway officials have found some children in some of these places too”, Kusuma added.