Government Railway Police in Saharsa rescued 16 children being trafficked to Punjab with a timely tip-off from Childline on Wednesday evening.

Five child traffickers were also arrested during the operation around 6.15pm. They were about to board the Amritsar-bound Janseva Express (15209).

Rail police officer in-charge Santosh Kumar said they received a tip-off from the non-government organisation Childline that some children would be brought to Saharsa Junction on Wednesday evening on their way to Taran Taran in Punjab. A timely raid not only saved the children but also allowed the police to nab the men involved in the racket.

The co-ordinator of Saharsa Childline, B.K. Jha, who was involved in the raid, informed the police. Santosh said: “The raid led to the recovery of the children and arrest of brokers active here.”

Jha said the 16 children — boys aged between 10 and 13 years — were from the Kosi and Purnea divisions. “The children are from Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura, Araria and Purnea districts. They were being taken to Taran Taran district in Punjab to work in local factories and a religious organisation.”

Ghuran Mahto, the Bachpan Bachao Andolan co-ordinator in Saharsa, said: “The Kosi and Purnea divisions have become a safe zone for child traffickers because people in the rural areas here are poor and uneducated. The police are not always harsh in their action against the child traffickers who lure unsuspecting parents in to sending their children to other states for work.”

Soon after the operation at Saharsa Junction on Wednesday, director and district project officer of the child protection unit Pramod Sharan and V. Katyayan, respectively, arrived at the railway station and recorded statements of the children.

Sharan said: “After the children undergo a medical examination, requisite action would be taken to hand them over to their parents.”

According to official records, sources said, as many as 176 child labourers have been recovered in Saharsa since 2011. The children were all being taken to other states when they were rescued. At least 22 child traffickers have also been arrested during this time. The actual figure of children trafficked to other places without being intercepted could be much more, the sources agreed.

“Bachpan Bachao Andolan founder and Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi had visited Saharsa a couple of years ago. He camped in the villages for several days to generate awareness among the people against the menace. His efforts seem to have failed,” Mahto rued.