LUCKNOW/MORADABAD: Twelve children being taken to Punjab from Bihar allegedly to work as labourers were rescued and five people arrested in this connection here, police said on Thursday.
In another case, around 40 children were taken off a Punjab-bound train at Moradabad on Thursday, with police saying that they are investigating if they are the victims too.
In Lucknow, police said the 12 rescued children aged 12 to 15.
They were taken off a bus in the Chinhat area on Wednesday evening.
When questioned, the children could not tell anything out of fear but the interrogation of people accompanying them revealed that they belonged to villages around Purnia district of Bihar and were being taken to Punjab to work as labourers, police said.
Those arrested told police that the children are made to work in hotels, homes and also in the fields, and are given food and clothes as wages.
Efforts are on to gather information about other members of their gang, police added.
The children taken off the Karambhoomi Express in Moradabad were below 15 years of age.
The train starts from Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.
However, railway police Inspector Sudheer Kumar said the children were travelling with relatives and they are investigating if the allegations of human trafficking are correct.