West Bengal: 12 tribal children being trafficked to work as labourers rescued

Kolkata, Nov 9 (IANS) The police in West Bengal's in South 24 Dinajpur district on Friday have rescued 12 tribal children who were being trafficked to another state to work as child labourers.

Sources from the state police said that the police personnel of Gangarampur PS were informed of an attempt to traffick these children to another state from Chowpatty area in Gangarampur.

Accordingly, plain clothed policemen reached the spot and tracked some tribal people accompanying the children -- all aged between 10 and 12 years.

The police intercepted them and brought them to the local police station for questioning.

The police learned that these tribal children were first being taken to Siliguri in Darjeeling district in North Bengal to get trained in umbrella manufacturing at a factory so that they can be employed anywhere outside West Bengal at a later stage.

The tribal people accompanying the children also told the police that these kids were taken there following the insistence of their guardians coming from poor financial backgrounds.

The rescued children have been sent to a local child-line (rehab centre) and sheltered there.

The police are investigating the matter further to track whether any major child trafficking racket is involved in the matter.

Also, it was immediately not known if anyone was apprehended in connection with the matter or from where these children were being brought.

Besides, no information was available regarding the police making any efforts to contact the parents or relatives of the rescued children.

Pockets in the northern sector of West Bengal, especially districts like Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and Cooch Behar, having international borders with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh are especially vulnerable as regards to child trafficking.

Often, children from other districts in the northern sector are taken to these vulnerable districts and subsequently trafficked from there.

The state government, along with other stakeholders, has taken different drives during the last few years to combat this menace.

--IANS

src/pgh