Chhattisgarh's missing tribals kids traced in TN

Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh, Apr 15 (UNI) Chhattisgarh Police is rushing a team to Tamil Nadu, for rescuing several children who went missing from tribal-dominated Sarguja district, following information that they were being held captive as child labourers in the vicinity of Chennai.

At least 25 kids were reported missing from Chanchidand and Tukudand villages. Parents lodged a complaint, at Pratappur Police Station, alleging that the children fell prey to a trafficking racket active in the region. They also named a man ''responsible'' for the kidnapping.

Chanchidand Sarpanch Gulab Singh alleged that the gang, which supplies kids to metropolises to work as domestic helps and labourers, kidnapped many children from the region.

''We only have information about 12 missing kids. All of them will be back within a couple of days. We have information that a few of them are in Chennai,'' said Pratappur Station House Officer William Toppo.

For several years, such traffickers are active in tribal areas of Sarguja, bordering Jharkhand. There are instances in which middlemen pay lump sums to poor tribal families to take their children to cities, promising jobs. After the Nithari killings, Sarguja police brought back many kids from New Delhi and other cities following complaints.

UNI