Child trafficking: Jharkhand Police arrest man from Ludhiana

Jharkhand police said today that they have arrested a man, who ran a shelter home for children in Punjab's Ludhiana district, in connection with a case of illegal trafficking and conversion.

Satyendra Prakash Musa, 58, ran the shelter home on Pakhowal road. He was arrested yesterday.

The police team rescued four children from another shelter home in Doraha area of Ludhiana district, where they were shifted after a raid on the shelter home on Pakhowal road on August 20, police said.

Another four rescued children are from Bihar.

Ludhiana commissioner of police Sukhchain Singh Gill said the local police have not registered any case against Musa.

Jatinder Pal Singh, who heads the district child welfare committee, said preliminary investigation has revealed that the shelter home run by Musa's Packiam Mercy Cross Trust was running illegally for more than 10 years. Moreover, the building housing 38 inmates was unsafe, he said.

In July, the shelter home was sent notice by the committee for registration, he added.

He said Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Aggarwal has ordered a detailed inquiry in the matter.

In reply to a question, Singh said it is difficult to say whether religious conversion was taking place there until the inquiry is completed.

He, however, said Musa collected money in the name of the children, but used it to meet his family expenses.