123 kids rescued from child traffickers in Kerala

Thrissur: In yet another case of suspected child trafficking to the state, 123 children  were  brought to Palakkad, but they were rescued by the railway police on Sunday.  The children aged up to 13, who were brought in the Guwahati-Trivandrum Express, were saved when they were about to come out of the Palakkad Junction station at 10.30 p.m carrying their bags.  This comes close on the heels of 456 children being rescued  from a train at Palakkad Junction on Saturday.

The police on Monday arrested eight persons in connection with case, who belong to Bihar, Jharkhand and west Bengal. The police had arrested 50 persons, who brought the 456 children without valid documents on Saturday by the Patna-Ernakulam Express.

The children reportedly told the officials of child welfare, social welfare and police departments that they had come to Kerala for Islamic studies.
According to the Palakkad Junction railway police, the arrested were sent to judicial custody.  

The first batch of children was  brought purportedly to be lodged in an orphanage in Kozhikode while the second batch was  to be lodged in an orphanage at Vettath in Malappuram district. The district administration along with district child welfare committee accommodated  the children at various government- accredited orphanages in the district.

The  Palakkad Child Welfare Committee  said it  would conduct a detailed investigation into the incident.