The Delhi Police's railway arm today rescued 14 children trafficked from different districts of Bihar to Delhi and even arrested in 10 people in this connection, officials were quoted saying to PTI.

Acting on a tip off received from the NGOs Bachpan Bacho Andolan and Salam Balak Trust on September 7 about 14 children being brought to Delhi by Mahananda Express Train from different districts of Bihar, the Delhi police and Railway Police Force personnel have been on alert, a senior police official said.

The rescued children are now securely placed in a quarantine centre as per the protocols.

The team kept a vigil on the movement of passengers and closely monitored the CCTV cameras to see any suspicious movement, it said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railways) Harendra K Singh said "Ten persons were detained and 14 children accompanying them were rescued. These children were medically examined and taken to quarantine centre, Lajpat Nagar".

"They were produced before the Child Welfare Committee through video conferencing. Based on their statements before the committee, a case was registered and the ten accused persons were arrested," he added.

Among those rescued, nine children are from Katihar, two from Begusarai, two from Kishanganj and one from Purnia. They had planned to take them to different places including four to Azadpur and two to Seelampur in Delhi, two to Faridabad in Haryana and six to Punjab, he said.

Due to the shortage of labourers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the traffickers saw an opportunity to get the children employed in factories and targeted poor families in Bihar, the DCP said to PTI.