GORAKHPUR: An anti-human trafficking unit of the Gorakhpur police on Monday rescued 19 minor children, said an official. It also arrested nine people on the charge of human trafficking.
Acting on a tip-off, police surrounded the Jagdishpur area and started checking buses coming from Bihar at Madapar Koni Tiraha and caught nine human traffickers besides rescuing 19 children, unit Inspector Ajit Pratap Singh said.
He said the rescued children were handed over to the Childline, an NGO attached with the Department of Women and Child Development.
"Surya Pratap Mishra, Uttar Pradesh coordinator for the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, had tipped off police that human traffickers are taking children from Bihar's Araria to Delhi by bus," he said.
The traffickers have been booked under Sections 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave), 420(Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the IPC, Section 79 of the Juvenile Justice Act and the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act-2016 , he said.
"Human-trafficking is an organised crime and it is a matter of investigation how big their network is Nine traffickers have been arrested and the counselling of the rescued children is going on," SP (Crime) Ashok Kumar Verma said.
After counselling, it may become clear how the traffickers were able to carry them away, the SP said.
The accused have been identified as Mohd Hashim, Mohd Zahid, Tshtiyaq, Shamshad, Murshid, Maroof, Noor Hassan, Shahid and Haseeb. All belong to Bihar's Araria, he added.