Cuttack, Jan. 31: Police today claimed to have rescued five underprivileged children of Chauliganj who had been sent to Andhra Pradesh as domestic helps. The police, however, ruled out any possibility of child trafficking.

"All the five minors (three boys and two girls) were brought from Guntur today with the help of their parents," Chauliganj police station inspector in charge Ajay Das told The Telegraph.

The children were from poor families living at Nilakantheswar slum in Chauliganj. "I was made to do household work, such as cleaning and running small errands. They gave me food and clothes," said Babul Naik, 12.

His 38-year-old mother Asha said: "Since my husband and I earn very little as daily wagers, we had sent our son to earn for the family."

Hemlata Naik, a widow in her sixties, was left to eke out a living for herself and her seven-year-old granddaughter Baby Naik after the death of her son and daughter-in-law more than a year ago.

Hemlata said: "I earn very little for both of us by working as a daily labourer. So, I sent her to earn for both of us."

Baby, on her part, could say little except for mumbling that she was made to do cleaning utensils.

After a social activist alleged that the minors from Nilakantheswar slum had been sold, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Cuttack had started a probe on Friday. The police had joined the probe team on Saturday after the activist lodged a complaint at Chauliganj police station.

District child protection officer Pragati Mohanty, who headed the inquiry team, said: "Investigation revealed that seven minors (four of them girls), hailing from poor families had been sent to Guntur. Another 19-year-old girl from the slum had also been sent to the same town."

"The parents admitted that they had allowed their children to go to work," Mohanty said. The children, who were taken to Guntur, were hired for doing domestic chores for families. Two persons had acted as middlemen assuring the parents that they would receive monthly allowance ranging from Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,800 through them. The two middlemen have been identified as O.V. Giri and Shakti Sahu.

The police have not slapped a child trafficking case. "As the children in all the cases were taken out of the state with the consent of the parents, a child trafficking case could not be started. The three other children identified during the probe will be rescued soon with the help of their parents," Das said.

"A case has been registered under sections 363 and 368 of IPC for wrongful confinement. Accordingly, the statements of the children and their parents has been recorded," he said.

Cuttack CWC chairperson Bikash Mohapatra said: "This is a sad case of underprivileged minors being exploited by their poor parents for earning money."