19 children rescued, nine held in Maharashtra

Mumbai, Aug 26: In a bid to curb child labour, police raided hotels at Hiranandani, Powai, an eastern suburb, and rescued 19 children.

Police here today said they conducted raids on hotels and restaurants in Hiranandani area yesterday and rescued 19 children, who were working as labourers. They were sent to the remand home at Dongri in south Central Mumbai. Most of them hailed from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Nine people, including five hotel-owners, were arrested in this connection.

Police have identified the arrested people as Jagaram Chaudhary, Farman Sheikh, Gulabhai Moradiya, Chander Dua, Surendra Singh, Prasant Dube, Vishwanath Shetty, T Khan and Shaif Fitur.

All of them were booked for exploitation of children and keeping them away from education, the sources added.

UNI