Child labour: 31 children detained at Alappuzha

ALAPPUZHA: As many as 31 children, including 18 girls and 13 boys, were detained by the Railway Protection Force and the state police at the  Alappuzha railway station on Tuesday on suspicion of child labour.They were being taken to Varkala on the Lokmanya Tilak-Trivandrum Central  Netravathi Express. A man suspected to be an agent was also taken into custody by the police. All the children were from Karnataka and were being brought to a fish-packing factory at Varkala for packaging jobs.  The children have reportedly told the police that they hailed from a remote   village in Karnataka and were above 14 years. They added that they were  being taken for a job and the agent had offered them Rs 4,500 as monthly  salary. However, the police said some of the girls were below the age of 14.  It was the co-passengers who informed the police about the children at the Ernakulam Railway Station.