Bengaluru: Rumours of mass child trafficking spread like a wildfire in the city, when more than 150 madrasa students, accompanied by 16 rectors, were detained by the Cantonment Railway police when they alighted from the Guwahati-Bengaluru train on Tuesday morning.
The children were made to wait for more than eight hours at the station before they were let off by the police.
The police detained the students after a few commuters, mistaking the children to be the victims of child trafficking, alerted the city police, who informed the railway police about the incident.
Following rumours of children being trafficked from Bangladesh, the railway police swung into action and along with the officials of Child Welfare Committee verified documents of the children. They then confirmed that the children were actually returning to their respective madrasas after finishing the Ramzan holidays.
“There were more that 150 children between the age group of eight and 13 years. They were taken to the waiting room to verify their documents after which they were let off. Our prime concern was to ensure they are not trafficked,” a senior police officer part of the investigation said.
He said that thought it did not appear to be a case of child trafficking, but verification was necessary. However, one of the rectors told Deccan Chronicle that children were made to unnecessarily wait for more than eight hours, all because of a 'false alarm'.
As the children waited at the station, the railway police provided them food and water. Some passersby even gave biscuits.
The children, who were studying in different madrasas in the state, had boarded the Guwahati Express and alighted at the Cantonment Railway Station around 11 am.
From here they were to travel by buses to their respective madrasas in Sagar, Madikeri and Tumkur.
Some are studying in madrasas in the city.
