Piyush Surin (name changed) was 12 when he was trafficked from Jharkhand to the Capital with the promise of a job in a factory. But the syndicate sold him to a criminal gang in west Delhi.

In time, he became the head of the crew and a trainer for other kids like him who are trafficked and handed over to crime rings.

"As an incentive of committing a theft or achieving the daily target of valuables worth Rs 500, they are given food and shelter. Else, these kids who are about 10-14 years of age are starved, beaten up, burnt with cigarettes and attacked with knives," a source said.

Piyush was recently nabbed by locals and handed over to police after thrashing him when he tried to snatch a purse from a woman on a two-wheeler.

"He is a trained thief who steals mobiles, wallets and snatches purses from people in busy areas of west Delhi. Shockingly, he is not the only child involved in such activities," said an official, quoting the investigation details.

Following his capture, four more kids in the age 10-12 were nabbed. During interrogation they told cops that all of them were trafficked from Jharkhand to Delhi on the pretext of jobs with pay of around Rs 30,000 a month.

"The nexus between inter-state human traffickers and Delhi-based criminal gangs is giving sleepless nights to the police as these gangs are training the kids to become thieves," said a senior official, requesting anonymity.

Once these kids are brought to Delhi, the crime rings purchase them after appraising their abilities.

More than 8,000 cases of human trafficking were reported in India in 2016, while 23,000 victims, including 182 foreigners, were rescued during the year, according to National Crime Records Bureau data.

Speaking to Mail Today, several NGOs fighting against human trafficking said the the child smuggling racket that is mainly active in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have got connected to criminal gangs in Delhi and other metros.

"Instead of pushing them into prostitution or child labour, they are earning more money in selling them to the crime rings," they said.

The kids, mostly between 10 and 14, are brought to Delhi via Ranchi and trained for nearly a month in stealing wallets, cellphones and bags, and identifying targets.

"They are assigned at busy subways, markets, tourist hot spots, malls and crowded places. Once they are fully trained, they are sent to targeted places in groups of two to three with the assurance that they will not be prosecuted," a police official told Mail Today.

The official, who did not wished to be named, revealed the details by quoting confessional statements of children apprehended in Kirti Nagar area.

"Most child pickpockets are under 14 years of age and juvenile delinquency laws states that children of this age cannot be held accountable for their petty crimes. Even if they are nabbed by the police they are taken to child welfare homes. After spending a few days in the shelters, these kids often escape and return to the crime world," a senior police official said.

Another source said that these children are brought to Delhi via Ranchi by neighbours known to them and their families.

"Then these kids are sold to the organised crime syndicates who held them captive in areas like Laxmi Nagar, Nihal Vihar, Govindpuri, etc. After they are trained, they are sent to the field to commit crime and a person keeps watch on them so they cannot escape," the official said.

Speaking to Mail Today, Rishi Kant, co-founder of NGO Shakti Vahini, said that in recent years, Jharkhand has emerged as a vulnerable state for trafficking of children and women.

"Thousands of trafficked children from the state are either forced to undertake a variety of criminal activities and begging or traded by placement agencies to domestic homes in Delhi," he said.

Baidnath Kumar, an activist in Jharkhand, said that trafficking-hit districts in the state are Lohardaga, Sahibganj, Kodarma, Giridih, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Palamu, Ranchi, Pakur and Dumka.