17 child labourers rescued in MP; five persons held

As many as 17 child labourers belonging to Bihar's Sheohar district were rescued here along with arrest of five persons, police said today.
The children were spotted by police in a suspicious condition at the Agar bus stand on October 14, following which police intervened and interrogated persons accompanying them, said IG (Women Cell) Raghuvir Prasad Shrivastava.
Later, on the basis of suspicion, police arrested five men -- Shambhu Shah, Raju Manjhi, Murani Pandit, Ram Iqbal and Pagara Ram, all resident of Sheohar district of Bihar, he said.
Police is also on the lookout for the contractor, based in Agar Malwa, Manish Gupta and the middleman based in Sheohar, Vijay Kumar in this regard.

The children were brought from Bihar to work for Gupta at a dam site in Beejnakhedi village, the IG said.
The arrested persons told police that Vijay Kumar had handed over these children to them for providing them to Gupta.

All the five men were produced in a local court yesterday which has sent them to judicial custody.
A case has been registered under IPC section 370 (1) and 370 (5) against the five persons and further probe is on, the official said.
The rescued children were handed over to Ujjain's Child Welfare Society and would be soon reunited with their families, he said.