18 children rescued from Bihar school reach Tripura (Lead)

Agartala : A group of 18 children who were rescued by the Bihar Police from a Buddhist School and Meditation Centre in Bodh Gaya have reached here, an official said on Saturday.

The police said the children, all boys and aged between 12 to 14 years, were sent to the school by their parents six months ago.

"The Bihar police last month rescued a large number of children including these 18 boys from the school after their parents complained of mistreatment by a monk," the official told the media.

The Bihar police earlier this week handed over the children to a team of Tripura Police. These boys reached here on Friday night, Tripura Child Rights Commission Chairperson Nilima Ghosh told IANS.

Tripura Health and Family Welfare Minister Sudip Roy Barman, who along with Ghosh received the children at the Agartala railway station, said the children were sent without any information or permission of the state government.

Barman said the Tripura government would take up the matter with Bihar and the state and Bihar police would jointly probe the matter.

Among the 18 children, 15 are from Tripura, two from Arunachal Pradesh and one from neighbouring Assam.

Ghosh said that the rescued children, now under the care of an NGO, Child Line, would be sent back to their homes soon.