26 child labourers rescued in Raj, 10 arrested

Twenty-six children, working as labourers in saree units, were rescued from Udai Mandir area here and ten persons arrested by the police today.
In a joint operation of the police, Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and NGO ChildLine, 26 child labourers, aged between 10-17 years, were rescued from 'aari-taari' units here.
Police have also arrested 10 persons, said to be the employers, who had been running these units.
Reports had been pouring in that children from other states had been brought in for work of 'aari-taari' in some saree units in the city, said SI Mangi Lal of Anti-Human Trafficking unit.

"After confirmation with the help of a local NGO, we zeroed in on Udai Mandir area and conducted a raid on these units where 26 children were working in two dingy shelters," the SI said.
All the children had been brought from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal for employment and had been kept here for the past seven to eight months.

"We have registered an FIR in the case and investigation has already been initiated to bust the racket of human trafficking," he said.
A representative of the CWC said that the children had been kept in inhuman and unhygienic conditions.

We will now counsel these children and rehabilitate them, he said.