Patna: Counselling of five minors who were rescued from a trafficking racket in Araria on Monday afternoon has revealed shocking facts.

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel rescued six minors, including a middleman, from Jokihat railway station in Araria district when they were taken to Delhi for work in a zari factory.

When non-government organisation Bhoomika Vihar officials were counselling the children, the boys revealed that a minor who had returned from one of the zari factories in Delhi, had convinced them to work in the factory.

The SSB had rescued the minors from the Jokihat railway station when they were waiting for a Delhi-bound train.

The Sashastra Seema Bal personnel got suspicious of a teenager who was accompanying the five minors to the railway station as they were waiting for a train for the past three hours.

The Sashastra Seema Bal personnel contacted the local Childline and child welfare committee officials to verify whether the matter was related to trafficking or not.

"The most shocking fact is that the middleman, who was taking the child to the Delhi factory, was a minor too. An FIR has been lodged against him at the Jokihat railway station," said Bhagwanji Pathak, a member of the Supaul-based child welfare committee, who was contacted by the Sashastra Seema Bal .

"The minor had worked in the Delhi-factory for a year. He returned and convinced the other five minors to work in the same factory," added Pathak.

"Imagine the psyche of the child who was trafficked. He is tortured at his workplace yet he comes back to convince others to work in the same factory. The middleman has revealed that in the Delhi factory he used to work for hours in the night. He was not given leaves.

"Children are chosen to work in zari factories because they have sharp eyes and they demand low wages," said Shilpi Singh, the director of Bhoomika Vihar. The NGO will rehabilitate the rescued children.

"Trafficking cases increase during this time of the year because of probable flood conditions in the region. Parents send their children to work outside the state and in some cases children decide to work outside seeing poverty," added Shilpi.