The Mahila police station here on Friday began investigations into alleged missing children under suspicious circumstances from a slum area under Chauliaganj police station of the city after registering a case.
At least 12 minor children of the area are alleged to have been sold in different parts of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh during past ten months.
Basing on the complaints filed by the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC), city DCP Sanjiv Arora directed the city Mahila police station to register a case and start investigations. Besides the CWC, District Child Protection Officer Pragati Mohanty also visited the slum on Friday and inquired over the incident.
“While there are complaints that some minor children have been sent to Andhra Pradesh by a broker as domestic helps with assurance of monthly remunerations, some others have been trafficked without any known purposes,” said CWC member Bikash Mohapatra, apprehending that they might have been sold in Guntur and Visakhapatnam areas.
It is also alleged that the slum children, five of whom are minor girls, were sold to as many persons for amounts ranging between `10,000 and `20,000. The matter came to light when a city-based socio-cultural organisation stumbled upon an old woman, claiming her granddaughter was a victim of a child trafficking racket.