17 children rescued from human traffickers at Muzaffarpur station, 6 held

Patna: In a crackdown on human trafficking, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) rescued 17 children from Muzaffarpur railway station under ‘operation aahat' in close coordination with an NGO and also arrested six people. The operation was conducted by the RPF Muzaffarpur post, falling under Sonepur division of the East Central Railway (ECR), during departure of the Muzaffarpur-Yashwantpur Express (15228) on Monday.According to Muzaffarpur RPF inspector Manish Kumar, the rescued children were being trafficked to cities like Ahmedabad and Bengaluru where they were likely to be engaged in garment factories and retail shops. However, timely intervention by the RPF prevented the plan, he said. The six arrested people were identified as Jabir Ansari (27), Mohd Irshad (22) both from Sitamarhi; Abdul Qayum (26) from Araria; Bachchalal (22) from West Champaran; Kush Kumar (19) from Madhepura and Shravan Yadav, 23, from Supaul. Preliminary investigations revealed that all the six accused were actively involved in an attempt to exploit the minors, the RPF inspector said. The arrested people were booked under multiple legal provisions, he said.Following their arrest, the accused were handed over to the Government Railway Police (GRP) at the Muzaffarpur station for further investigation and legal action. The rescued children were later sent to child welfare authorities for rehabilitation and care from where they would be handed over to their parents, the RPF inspector said, adding ‘operation aahat', a nationwide initiative by the RPF, continues to play a crucial role in identifying and rescuing vulnerable children from traffickers.