Man kidnaps five Delhi school children for trafficking them in UP, arrested

A man allegedly kidnapped five schoolchildren from the national capital, intending to traffic them in Uttar Pradesh, police said on Thursday.

Accused Setu Verma (22) has been arrested while the children were rescued and reunited with their families, police said.

“On March 18, a railway police team noticed five children in school uniform and bags with a young man at Narela Railway Station around 6.30 pm. Suspecting the man’s activity, the team enquired from the children, prompting the person to flee from the spot,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railway) KPS Malhotra said.

The children revealed that they were on their way to tuition classes in their village when Verma coaxed them with wafers and brought them to the station, he said.

Verma intended to take the children to his native place in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi, the DCP said.

During the initial investigation, it was found that Verma, who works in a candle-making factory in Delhi, kidnapped the children with the intent of selling them in UP, Malhotra said.

The team checked their notebooks and found the school’s name and contacted the principal. They informed the school authorities that the children were kidnapped, Malhotra said.

“Their parents were contacted and found that they were also frantically searching for their children,” the DCP said.

An FIR was registered under the Indian Penal Code section 363 (kidnapping) at the Sabzi Mandi Railway police station, police said.

“We recorded the statement of the children in the court. After the due process of law, the children were handed over to their families,” said the DCP.

Verma was arrested on March 19 and sent to judicial custody on Thursday, police said. (With inputs from PTI)