During a massive cordon and search operation to nab habitual criminals ahead of Republic Day, the police found boys - many of them under 10 - and three minor girls enslaved in dingy accommodation in the Old City by unscrupulous bangle makers.
Before the crack of dawn on January 24, the police had rescued around 220 minors from 14 buildings in Bhavani Nagar and Aman Nagar of the Talab Katta area.
Around 19 men have been arrested so far in connection with the racket, including a notorious local tough, Yaseen Pehelwan, a few bangle makers and middlemen suspected to have brought the minors to Hyderabad, primarily from Bihar.
Telangana officials are awaiting the arrival of representatives from the states to decide whether the children are to be sent back to their families or, if they cannot be traced, to social welfare institutions.
According to the children’s testimony, some were brought here after their parents were paid an advance amount of Rs 5,000- Rs 10,000, while others were abducted.
Pehelwan’s sons reportedly oversaw the brokers and children, and it was on their direction that these agents reportedly tortured the children to work the whole day.
Making lacquer bangles is a painstaking exercise, and the trafficked children were made to work from 8am till late at night, when they were herded into hovels to rest.
The police have booked the bangle makers and brokers, invoking Section 370 of the IPC (buying or disposing of any person as a slave) and Section 26 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
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