4 arrested for trafficking children from Jharkhand to Uttarakhand

More than 8,000 cases of human trafficking were reported in India in 2016, while 23,000 victims, including 182 foreigners, were rescued during the year, according to latest data by the National Crime Records Bureau.

Updated on: Jul 6, 2018, 22:07:46 IST

Hindustan Times, Nainital | By Neeraj Santoshi

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Four people have been arrested by police in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district for allegedly trafficking children from poor families in Jharkhand after training them to steal in the hill state, a senior police officer said on Friday.

The four accused of trafficking children from Jharkhand to Uttarakhand. (HT Photo)

Janmejay Khanduri, Nainital’s senior superintendent of police, said Subash Noniya from West Bengal and Vishnu Kumar, Irshar Ansari and Mohammad Akash Ansari from Jharkhand were arrested with four children hailing from Jharkhand near Haldwani railway station area on Wednesday.

“This is for the first time we found that children had been trained for stealing and brought here. We got suspicious when we found these children committing thefts in and around Haldwani railway station premises,” Khanduri said.

“Nearly a week ago, we formed a team of six police officers and took the help of the child NGO Vimarsh to track these children. Finally, on Wednesday we spotted these children with these four persons. We arrested them and interrogated them,” he added.

Khanduri said the accused revealed during questioning that these children had been trained to steal and brought from Jharkhand to Nainital.

“The accused would lure their poor parents with money and traffic these minors into Nainital for stealing,” he said.

Khanduri said a case of human trafficking under the Indian Penal Code’s section 370 clause 1 and clause 5 has been lodged against them and the rescued children have been handed over to Vimarsh.

He also announced a cash reward of ₹2,500 for the six-member police team that cracked the case.

More than 8,000 cases of human trafficking were reported in India in 2016, while 23,000 victims, including 182 foreigners, were rescued during the year, according to latest data by the National Crime Records Bureau.

There were 8,132 cases reported from across the country in 2016 compared to the 6,877 in 2015. Out of the 15,379 victims in these cases, 9,034 (58%) were below the age of 18 years, the bureau said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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