As many as 19 minor children brought to the metropolis from Bihar to work as labourers were rescued, Railway police said.
These children, aged 10 to 16, were brought to Mumbai from the Northern State in a train and 14 people accompanying them were booked under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, a Railway police official said.
The rescue operation was conducted by the police in collaboration with Pratham Council for Vulnerable Children (PCVC), a wing of NGO Pratham.
“Our team in Bihar got a tip off that about 40-50 (minor) children boarding Mumbai-bound Jan Sadharan Express from three stations in East Champaran district. We passed on the information to the Railway police in Mumbai,” said Kishore Bhamre, Director of PCVC over the phone.
The train, which starts from Raxaul (Bihar), terminated at Thane instead of its original destination (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus), where the children were rescued, he stated.
The children are below the age of 17 with the youngest one being 10 and brought here to work as labourers, he added.
