CHILD TRAFFICKING: Assam Police rescues 42 kids from Sikkim; Kingpin arrested
Forty-two children trafficked from villages in Chirang district of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) were rescued from Sikkim by a team from Assam Police and brought to the state.
A team led by Assam Police special DGP, L.R Bishnoi and assisted by Chirang SP, Gaurav Upadhyay had conducted the operation in Sikkim and rescued the children on Wednesday.
The kingpin of the child trafficking racket, Krishna Jogi and his accomplice, have been arrested and are in custody of Chirang police.
Speaking to mediapersons after meeting the rescued children here on Friday, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the children, aged between nine and 18 years, were taken to Sikkim on the pretext of education there but engaged in domestic work instead.
“The children belong to the Adivasi, Bengali, Koch-Rajbongshi and Boro communities and hail from four villages near the India-Bhutan border in Chirang district of BTR,” Sarma said.
“Assam DGP has been in constant touch with his Sikkim counterpart and the Sikkim police also helped in the rescue operation,” the chief minister said.
He further informed that 107 women and children have been rescued in the past two months.
“The rescue (of the 42 children day) before yesterday is a significant achievement of Assam Police as the state police force along with the drive against illicit drugs and cattle smuggling, had also intensified operations against human/child traffickers in the past two months,” Sarma said.
During custodial interrogation, the kingpin of the racket has informed police that he has trafficked as many as 80 children in the past two years, with some taken to Dubai as well. “Police are investigating the matter and trying to locate the other children,” he said.
“The rescued children have been produced before the welfare committee, Chirang. The committee might explore the idea of putting them in residential schools. I shall be meeting their parents/guardians after some days and also meet Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) chief executive member, Pramod Boro, before taking a call in regard to their rehabilitation,” the chief minister said.
(Edited by Christopher Gatphoh)
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