A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday directed the CBI to probe all child trafficking cases in the state.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan passed the order while hearing a petition by an NGO seeking the court's intervention to stop children from other states being trafficked to orphanages in Kerala.
According to government records, there are 1,387 destitute homes in Kerala. Of which 87 are licensed and in all there are around 54,000 inmates.
The court also asked the state-run Child Welfare Committee to act as watchdog and ensure that all orphanages in the state were registered.
