Kids Drugged To Be Street Beggars In Bangalore

By P. Vijian CHENNAI, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- In an awful expose in Bangalore, India's renowned IT capital, police smashed a child begging ring and rescued over 200 children, some under heavy influence of drugs. Many of the victims were children below three years old and were fed with drugs by human traffickers and turned into organised street beggars. A probe revealed the syndicate frequently fed infants with sleeping tablets, cough syrup and narcotic substances to make them appear sickly while on the streets, reported Bangalore-based media. "Babies rescued were sleeping when we brought them to shelter homes. "We were shocked when we found them sleeping even after three days," Anita Anaya, an anti-human trafficking activist told a local daily in Bangalore on Thursday. Victims told investigators that they were forced to collect RM200 daily -- failing of which they would be beaten or deprived of food. Bangalore police had carried out a massive anti-begging operation last week, using city mapping software to track down the child beggars and the mastermind behind the crime, but the kingpin is still at large. The rescued children are now under government custody but none of their parents have claimed them so far. Most of the children are believed kidnapped from poor homes. -- BERNAMA