There were 31 girls and 26 boys among the rescued from slaughterhouse.
A total of 57 minors, including 31 girls and 26 boys, were rescued from a slaughterhouse in UP's Ghaziabad following a joint operation by the police and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), an official said on Wednesday.
"Today, in a joint raid conducted with @NCPCR_ ) on the instructions of @Uppolice at the International Agro Food slaughterhouse of Yasin Qureshi in the Mussoorie area of Ghaziabad district in Uttar Pradesh, 57 minors (31 girls and 26 boys, including handicapped people) have been rescued; the operation is still on. All of them were being made to slaughter animals there," NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo said in a post on X.
"The number may change once other processes, including age verification of the children, are completed. Action has been taken on the complaint of Mission Mukti," he added.
A senior police officer said that due to the poor economic condition of their families, these children were brought from their respective states to Ghaziabad on the pretext of providing jobs.
"They (the minors) were then put to work at International Agro Foods without their prior knowledge of the nature of the work. The police are searching for the persons who brought these children from their states to initiate action against them," the officer said.
According to the police, the NCPCR had received a complaint that approximately 40 children from Bihar and West Bengal were being forced to work in inhumane conditions at a slaughterhouse in Ghaziabad.
This complaint was lodged with the Ghaziabad Police Commissionerate.
"Based on the information provided by the officials of the NCPCR, the police assembled a team. On Wednesday, a joint operation was conducted at International Agro Foods in Dasna. During the operation, 57 minors were safely rescued from the slaughterhouse," the officer said.
International Agro Foods is involved in meat processing, freezing, and exports. The company supplies a significant amount of its products overseas.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)