Mumbai-style begging racket using children busted in Odisha; 9 children rescued, 5 persons arrested

In a major crackdown, a police team busted a Mumbai-style child begging racket operating in Berhampur City of Ganjam district, on Thursday. The Town Police rescued nine children and arrested five members of the child begging racket in this connection.

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Following rescue, the children were produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for further care and rehabilitation.

According to official sources, members of the racket had kept the children under Gosani Nuagaon overbridge in the city. The minors are allegedly transported by auto-rickshaws and dropped at busy traffic junctions and crowded public places, where they were forced to beg throughout the day. By evening, they are collected and taken back.

Preliminary investigation suggests that the accused had been engaging children in begging for the past two years. Notably, the rescued children were unable to speak Odia, raising serious concerns about trafficking and their place of origin.

Following a written complaint, a special team was previously formed under the leadership of Berhampur Town SDPO to monitor and track the gang’s illegal activities. After sustained surveillance, the police conducted a crackdown and dismantled the network.

Further investigation is underway to determine how the children were brought to the city, where they were being housed at night, and whether more people are involved in the racket. Police have assured strict action against those exploiting minors for begging.

“Regarding the issue of children being forced into begging, we had received complaints from every signal area in Berhampur. Upon receiving these complaints, the police formed a team. With the cooperation of our CDPO staff and CWC, a joint team was formed, including the Childline. This joint team comprised of the Town SDPO, staff from the Town Police Station, along with all the lady staff. When they conducted a raid, they first went in civilian clothes to observe the area, to see who was doing what,” Berhampur SP, Saravana Vivek M, said.

“It was then discovered that some people were forcefully making children get out of auto-rickshaws, instructing them to beg at traffic signals and collect money from passing vehicles, and then leaving them. It was also revealed that these children were handing over the collected money to these adults (racket members),” the Berhampur SP stated.

“Based on this, when evidence was collected, the juveniles were detained and later rescued. Among the adults who were with them, there was a 60-year-old lady, one male person, and the rest were women. When questioned, they could not provide any concrete information. They claimed these were their own children, or their brother's or sister's children, but they had no identity proof whatsoever. They were all speaking in Hindi,” the senior cop added.