Agartala/Itanagar, Dec 24 Acting on a request from the Tripura Police, the Arunachal Pradesh Police on Wednesday rescued 24 child labourers along with a few adult workers who were allegedly trafficked to the state for unauthorised work, officials said.
A senior Tripura police official said that the Arunachal Pradesh Police informed them on Wednesday night about the successful rescue of all 24 child labourers and the accompanying adult workers.
He said that an official team of the Tripura government would travel to Itanagar on Thursday to bring the rescued children back to the state.
Earlier, family members had claimed that around 30 child labourers, along with a few adult workers, were taken to Arunachal Pradesh. However, subsequent verification confirmed that 24 children were forcibly taken for unauthorised work.
Officer-in-Charge of Kailashahar Police Station in Tripura’s Unakoti district, Tapas Malakar, said that Tripura Police contacted their Arunachal Pradesh counterparts after a missing persons case was registered, seeking assistance to trace the children.
Following the request from the Tripura government, the Arunachal Pradesh Police launched an intensive search operation, leading to the rescue of the children and adult workers, Malakar told the media.
Family members of the children and youths had lodged an FIR at the Kailashahar Police Station on Tuesday, alleging that the children were ill-treated and forced to live in inhuman conditions, resulting in severe mental distress.
“The families are in deep anguish and are desperately seeking the safe and early return of their near and dear ones,” Malakar said, highlighting the humanitarian gravity of the situation.
The parents of the missing children are workers at tea gardens in Northern Tripura’s Unakoti district.
Meanwhile, Tripura Labour, Social Welfare and Social Education Minister Tinku Roy wrote to Arunachal Pradesh Commerce and Industries, Labour and Employment Minister Nyato Dukam, seeking his intervention to facilitate the rescue of the children.
In his letter, Roy stated that around 30 child labourers, along with a few adult workers, were taken from Rangrung Tea Garden and another tea garden in Kailashahar under Unakoti district to Arunachal Pradesh after being promised wages and benefits.
However, the traffickers allegedly denied the children their lawful entitlements.
The Minister further said that family members alleged the children were subjected to ill-treatment and compelled to live in inhuman conditions, causing severe mental distress and anxiety.
“In view of the seriousness of the matter and the humanitarian concerns involved, I earnestly request your kind intervention to extend all necessary assistance for the immediate rescue and safe repatriation of the child labourers to their homes in Tripura at the earliest,” Roy said in the letter.
--IANS
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