19 children rescued from traffickers in Assam

Guwahati, Feb 25 (IANS) NGO Child Line, in association with Assam Police, Wednesday rescued 19 children from the railway station here from a group of traffickers.

All the children rescued from the station in Paltan Bazar area are between six and 15 years old. Three people, who accompanied the children, were detained.

They hail from Hailakandi in Assam and from the North Tripura district of Tripura. The rescued children include one who is visually impaired.

"We received information that some children were being taken out of the state by train. Accordingly, we informed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police and raided the station," said Child Line Guwahati coordinator Nirmal Deka.

"During the raid jointly carried out by us and the CID, we found 19 children waiting to board some train," he said.

"We have taken custody of the children and we are going to produce them before the Kamrup district Children Welfare Committee. The committee will advise us on the future course of action," he said.

Assam Police has rescued over 400 trafficking victims since July 2011 till last year. Police have arrested 281 offenders in the operation against an inter-state gang of human traffickers during this period.