23 minors rescued by NE Railway force, one trafficker arrested

Guwahati: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of North East Frontier Railway (NFR) has rescued 23 minors over the course of a week as a checking drive was conducted at various trains and railway stations in the region.
A railway official said that the campaign was organized from September 8 to 17. RPF has also arrested a person involved in human trafficking.
The campaign was conducted at various locations of New Bongaigaon, New Jalpaiguri, Jalpaiguri Road, Samsi, Badarpur, Barsoi, Rangiya, Katihar and Dimapur railway stations.

All the recovered persons were later handed over to the respective child lines for safe custody and families as usual after proper verification.
On September 17, the RPF of Rangiya rescued a runaway minor boy and girl while carrying out regular checking at Rangiya railway station. Later, the rescued minors were handed over to Fatima Balika Dayadham, Rangiya for safe custody.
On 9th September, RPF escort party from Malegaon rescued 04 minor boys who ran away from Train No. 22449 (Guwahati – New Delhi) Express at New Bongaigaon Railway Station. The minors were later handed over to Birjhora Children’s Home, Bongaigaon for further processing.
On September 8 and 9, the RPF of Samsi conducted a search operation for a suspected human trafficker in Train No. 13034 (Katihar – Howrah) Express. During the search, a human trafficker was caught and the forces recovered a minor girl from his custody.
Later, the accused and the minor girl were handed over to GRP/Malda Town for further action.

In August, NFR’s RPF rescued 70 minor boys and girls and three women. A kidnapper was also arrested in the same month.
The Railway Protection Force is on alert for suspected human trafficking as well as suspicious movement of children, traveling alone, without proper guardian, etc., the officer said.