Bengaluru police have rescued 13 children who were allegedly forced to beg at traffic signals across the city and arrested four people from Bihar and Maharashtra in connection with the case. The children, including nine boys and four girls, were found living with adults in makeshift huts on a footpath beneath a flyover near Kogilu Cross in the Yelahanka police station area.
The operation was carried out by the Central Crime Branch’s Women Protection Wing and the Social Welfare Department after the Child Welfare Committee received information about the children. The rescued minors were produced before the committee for further action, while a case was registered at Yelahanka police station.
According to the police, those arrested include Karthik, 45, who is currently residing in Bengaluru, his son, and two men identified as Mukesh and Subhash, both from Maharashtra. The children were allegedly deployed at different traffic intersections across the city to beg.
Police said the children were found with the adults, with approximately three or four minors associated with each man. The adults claimed that the children were related to them and said that five women present at the site were their wives. Investigators have not yet verified these claims.
A senior police officer said the relationship claims would be examined through address checks and other procedures, including DNA testing. “A case has been registered at Yelahanka police station, and the children have been produced before the CWC. The committee is yet to submit its report,” the officer said.
The Child Welfare Committee will assess the children’s living conditions and the circumstances in which they were found. It will also attempt to trace their biological parents and determine whether the adults had legitimate custody of the minors.
The police investigation is also examining how the children came into the group’s custody, how long the adults had been staying in Bengaluru and whether the case is connected to a wider child-exploitation network. The location beneath the flyover, where the children were found in makeshift shelters, has become the immediate focus of the investigation and child-protection process.
Further action will depend on the Child Welfare Committee’s report, the verification of the adults’ claims and the outcome of the police investigation into the children’s movement and alleged deployment at traffic signals.
