Eight Nepal kids rescued - Three held after bus raid

Siliguri, May 30: Police today rescued eight minors from a group of 25 while being taken to Sikkim by alleged traffickers.

Three suspected traffickers escorting the boys from Nepal were arrested from Hill Cart Road, the result of a raid on a bus carrying them based on a tip-off. The police said the boys in the age group of 13-16 were on their way to Sikkim to work at construction sites.

“We acted on source information from Naxalbari and found three persons taking 25 boys from Nepal to Sikkim on the pretext of giving them jobs at some construction sites. They boarded the bus from Panitanki (on the Indo-Nepal border). We stopped the bus near Mahananda Bridge on Hill Cart Road and rescued the boys,” an officer of the Siliguri police said.

He said the age of the minors in the group ranged from 13 to 16. “Most of them were barely in their teens,” said the officer. He said the police could not have acted suo motu if only adults were in the group. “In that case, there had to be complaints against exploitation from the adult workers.”

Sources in the police said the traffickers had promised the minors a daily wage of Rs 250. The adults, that is those above 18, were promised Rs 450. They were also told they would be given three meals a day. Most of the boys are from the eastern parts of Nepal.

The Siliguri traffic police, which intercepted the group while carrying out raids on errant auto-rickshaws on Hill cart Road, said the boys had no clue where they were being taken for jobs.

“Most of them appeared innocent and oblivious to the nature of job which was assured by the traffickers,” an officer of the STP said. “

It was a simple case of trafficking, with the promise of well-paying jobs. Those brought from Nepal we-re lured with the wages and meals.” The traffickers, police said, are from Nepal, Sikkim and Matigara on the outskirts of Siliguri. They have been identified as Ram Pariwar of Morang district in Nepal, Harinath Burman of Matigara and Mahadeb Prasad Sharma of Sikkim.

“The trio were to receive Rs 12,500 from the construction company which had given them the task of bringing 25 workers,” police said.

The police have filed cases under sections 363 (kidnapping), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt, slavery, etc) and 374 (unlawful compulsory labour) of the IPC against the arrested men.

“The three accused will be produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate’ court tomorrow while the boys will be sent to a children’s home for safe custody. In due course, they would be produced before court and will be handed over to their parents. We are trying to contact their parents through Nepal police,” Pinaki Majumdar, the inspector in charge of Siliguri police station, said.(TT)