As many as 163 minor boys, allegedly being trafficked from Bihar to Maharashtra to work as labourers, were rescued from an express train in Madhya Pradesh's Katni district, the railway police said on Sunday.
The eight accused arrested in the case have, however, claimed that the children, aged between six and 13, were being taken to a madrasa in Latur for education, they said.
Based on a tip-off from the Child Welfare Committee, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) conducted an overnight joint operation, intercepting eight persons, who were travelling with the boys without proper tickets and documents onboard the Patna-Purna Express at Katni railway station.
According to preliminary information, the children were being taken from the Araria region in Bihar to Latur in Maharashtra, RPF Katni inspector Virendra Singh told PTI.
The force received a tip off about the trafficking of children and grew suspicious after they found no valid travel documents, prompting a joint rescue operation, which was wrapped up at Sunday dawn, he said.
Singh said that the GRP have registered a case under section 143(4) (trafficking of a child below the age of eighteen years) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the eight accused, all from different districts of Bihar.
Initial investigations suggested that the boys were being taken to Latur to work as labourers, he said, adding that the GRP is investigating the case.
When contacted, Katni GRP station house officer (SHO) L P Kashyap told PTI that the rescued children and the accused belonged to the Muslim community.
The children were travelling in the sleeper class of the express train, with around 50 of them in a compartment, he said.
"During questioning, they (the accused) have claimed that the children were being taken for education purposes to a madrasa in Latur. We have contacted some parents, who have also said that they have sent their wards for education," the GRP officer said.
The accused persons have said that they have taken children to madrasas in the past as well, he said.
"We are investigating the case. The accused, who have been booked on the charges of trafficking, will be produced in court," he added.
According to officials, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) had received information about a large number of children being transported under suspicious circumstances.
Security personnel waited for the express train on platform number 5 and searched coaches upon its arrival, taking the children into safe custody, they added.
Child Protection Officer Manish Tiwari said authorities acted promptly on the input, and the rescued children were undergoing counselling.
Efforts have begun to contact their parents while officials verified their age, identity and purpose of travel, he said.
Some children have been housed in Katni and others in Jabalpur under the care of child protection units.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
