BENGALURU: Two minors from Bihar, who ran away from their employer at a two-wheeler spare part manufacturing centre in the outskirts of Bengaluru, were rescued by the Railway Protection Force unit at KSR railway station on Tuesday. The duo, aged 14 and 15, were found by the ‘Nanhe Farishtey’ unit of the RPF, said asenior Railway official.
“The boys revealed that a year ago, a man named Manoj brought them to the city from Motihari village in Bihar. Their families were promised a handsome salary. They had travelled to Chennai by train and then Manoj brought them to Bengaluru by bus to avoid regular checks conducted by the anti-child trafficking team here,” the official said. “The boys were made to work 16 hours daily. This apart, they were assigned additional work at a bag manufacturing centre. The families were sent small sums ranging between `1,000 and `2,000 every month so that they do not suspect anything amiss,” the officials stated, adding that the exact location of the manufacturing unit is not clear.
The employer was on the lookout for more children to work at his unit and had asked them earlier to call more boys from their village to come over. “On the pretext that boys from their village were coming on Tuesday, the duo got permission to visit the station. A man from their unit accompanied them but they managed to escape from him and were huddled in a corner at the station when the RPF spotted them,” the official said. They were handed over to the Child Welfare Committee and the details of the trafficker have been shared with the local police. An FIR under sections IPC 370 and 70 (A) which deals with human trafficking will be filed, the Railway official added.