13 Baiga tribal children rescued in Kabirdham, 10 arrested

In a major crackdown on child trafficking and labour, 13 children belonging to the Baiga tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) known for living deep inside forest regions, were rescued from hazardous cattle rearing units in Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham (previously known as Kawardha) district on Wednesday, May 6,2026. The rescue operation was jointly carried out by the police, Childline, Women and Child Development Department, and Association for Voluntary Action (AVA). Ten traffickers were also arrested during the operation. The rescue team, led by Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Singh, acted on a tip-off provided by AVA, a partner organisation of Just Rights for Children (JRC), the country’s largest network of NGOs working for child protection. AVA had been closely tracking the movement and activities of the traffickers for nearly two weeks before sharing confirmed information with the district police.
The children, aged between 8 and 15 years, had been trafficked from their villages nearly seven to eight months ago after traffickers lured their families with promises of money and better facilities. They were forced to work for more than ten hours every day in cattle rearing units located near the Kanha National Park region and were paid a meagre amount of Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 per month, the FIR stated.
The children were found living and working in extremely exploitative and hazardous conditions. During the rescue operation, the team initially rescued four children from one cattle rearing unit. The rescued children then guided officials to other location where more children were being held and forced into labour. After a day-long operation, 13 children were rescued from four different places in the district. All the rescued children were shifted to child care institutions after the late night rescue and are now being produced before the Child Welfare Committee for further care and rehabilitation procedures. Meanwhile, the police have invoked relevant sections under laws related to trafficking in persons, bonded labour, child labour, and the Juvenile Justice Act against the arrested traffickers.