Role of agent under probe in alleged child trafficking, say Ernakulam Railway police

The Government Railway Police, Ernakulam, probing the alleged child trafficking case following the rescue of nine minor boys said they were verifying the reported involvement of an agent in the incident.

Sources with the police said the two accused arrested in the case, Bihar natives Dablu Nath and Sunil Mondal, had hinted that the minor boys were brought to Kochi from Bihar to be employed in a plywood factory in Perumbavoor. “We have got a name, but we are yet to verify it. The investigation is in a primary stage,” an officer said.

Incidentally, lawyer-activist Kulathoor Jaisingh had lodged a complaint with the Chief Minister alleging attempts to sabotage the probe.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF), in coordination with the Crime Intelligence Branch, claimed to have rescued the boys during a routine security check on the arrival of Patna-Ernakulam Express at Ernakulam South Railway Station on July 18.

During the inspection, the team reportedly noticed a group of nine minors and two adults behaving suspiciously. “On enquiry, it was revealed that the minors, all hailing from different districts of Bihar, had travelled to Ernakulam in search of work. The children said that they had undertaken the journey with the knowledge and consent of their families due to severe financial hardship and lack of employment opportunities in their native villages,” an RPF source said.

Of the nine boys, five were admitted to a children’s home in Angamaly and four at a centre in Palluruthy.