Gangs involved in trafficking busted, 44 children rescued
   Date :22-May-2019

 
Staff Reporter:
 
In a joint operation conducted by teams of Bhopal Childline, Child Welfare Committee and Crime Branch, as many as 44 children who were brought from Kanpur and Hyderabad to Bhopal and were forced into begging, were rescued from CI Colony of Jehangirabad and Ashoka Garden area respectively on Tuesday. As many as 23 adults were also taken into custody alongwith the children who were accompanying these children in begging. However, these adults claimed they are parents of these children and had come here only in festivals for begging. Now, the teams are asking for their Aadhaar cards to find out if they are really their parents. If their claim of being their parents is not corroborated, then DNA tests will be carried out for it, cops said.
 
According to Childline official, there was information about children of age group less than fourteen years are begging on roads in various areas of Bhopal. She said these children were mostly found on wheelchairs or in laps of women, who would arouse sympathy of residents and beg from them. It was also reported that these children have been brought from other states and that there are probabilities of their being kidnapped for begging racket operated in various states.
 
However, on Tuesday morning the teams of Childline, Crime Branch and District Prosecution unit reached Jehangirabad and Ashoka Garden areas. From CI Colony of Jehangirabad, 26 children were rescued and 3 men and 9 women were held. The children were brought from Hyderabad here around two months ago and were kept in two rooms. Whereas in Ashoka Garden area, 18 children brought here from Kanpur a couple of months ago for begging were rescued. Four men and 7 women were held. Director of Bhopal Childline, Archana Sahay said that we are working constantly to curb this issue and this time they had prior information about the racket and were planning to nab all of them at a time. The rescued children are presently kept at a Tribal Welfare Hostel in Shyamla Hills.