Gang busted for trafficking children & training them to steal mobile phones

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Monday said it had busted a syndicate of seven people who were exclusively trafficking children from poor families in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to the Capital and training them to commit petty crimes. Investigators said that the arrests were made from Jharkhand and Delhi.

The Delhi Police have found that the gang members specifically trafficked children between the

ages of 7 and 12 years from poor families under the pretext of providing them jobs in the city.

"Instead of providing jobs, the minor children were forcefully trained for pick-pocketing of mobile phones. The gang also recruited handlers for Rs 15,000 a month to take care of the children and assist in case of any emergency," an official said.

"The gang was being managed and controlled by one Vishal Mehto assisted by his relatives and family members of Jharkhand. The main kingpin of the whole syndicate, racket Vishal Mahto and his associate Sunil constantly changing their locations from Nangloi, Khayala,

Bhajanpura, Khazuri and Loni areas," DCP (Dwarka) Santosh Kumar Meena said.

Besides, the kingpin also recruited auto-rickshaw drivers for the transportation of these children.

The children were sent to busy markets, especially weekly markets along with their handlers to steal mobile phones, which were then passed on to the gang by the handlers. Money ranging from Rs 25,000 to 30,000 was also sent to the families of the minors.

Police said on January 15, one child was found in suspicious and abandoned condition in the area of a weekly market, Sector-8, Dwarka. On inquiry, the child revealed a strange story of being used forcefully for stealing mobile phones by a gang. The child was immediately produced before the Child Welfare Committee.

"During counseling, the child stated that one Vishal who belongs to his native village at Sahebganj, Jharkhand brought him to Delhi on the pretext of providing a job but he was forced into pick-pocketing mobile phones," DCP Meena said.

During the probe, two accused identified as one Seikh Dildar and one Bihari Chaudhary were arrested, following which other members of the gang were also nabbed.