Twelve kids rescued from ‘trafficker’ at Rangiya station

GUWAHATI: At least 12 children, including a girl, who were allegedly being trafficked to Mumbai and Goa, were rescued in a joint operation by officials of Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) at Rangiya Junction railway station in Kamrup district, some 68 km from here, on Tuesday morning.
The trafficker, a resident of the Mazbat area of Darrang district, was identified as Kamal Daimary.He was arrested.
“The rescued children hail from the same area as Daimary. He lured them with the promise of finding them work in factories,” a GRP official said.
Sources said Daimary had earlier trafficked many women and children, handing them over to fake agencies and service providers in other states. In most cases, the children ended up in brothels or in factories as bonded labourers.
“Daimary was engaged by ‘firms’ in New Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai, among others, to tempt vulnerable children and women with job promises. Such rackets pay between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000 per child. The amount also depends on the health and skill of the child,” the GRP official added.
The rescue took place on a day Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi and chief minister Tarun Gogoi discussed ways of protecting child rights and curbing human trafficking in Assam.
A child welfare officer attending to the rescued children said poverty and illiteracy in remote areas of the state fuel trafficking.
“Unfortunately, in many cases, parents seek the help of such agents to send their children for jobs,” the officer said.
In the last month alone, around 62 children from the state went missing.