In a major operation, 163 boys were rescued from Madhya Pradesh’s Katni railway station when they were allegedly being trafficked from Bihar to Maharashtra, officials said on Sunday (April 12, 2026).
The children, aged between six and 14, were rescued in a joint operation by the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in the intervening night of Saturday (April 11) and Sunday (April 12). The operation followed an intelligence input from the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) that eight men were escorting the boys on an express train.
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Superintendent of Police (GRP), Jabalpur, Simala Prasad told The Hindu that the children were being taken from Bihar’s Araria and nearby areas to Latur in Maharashtra.
Ms. Prasad said all eight men were arrested and booked under Section 143 (trafficking of persons) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The CWC is currently recording the statements of the children.
