490 children rescued by RPF in 2025

In the year 2025, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Salem Division rescued 490 children, including child trafficking victims.

In a release, the RPF said that in 2024, the RPF rescued 355 children, which increased in 2025 and promptly handed them over to the Child Welfare Committee for rehabilitation and family reunification. In 2025, a spike in mobile phone thefts at Salem Junction prompted the deployment of body-worn cameras and advanced digital forensic methods. Through CCTV analysis, UPI transaction tracking, and call detail record examination, RPF personnel traced the suspects to Katpadi and arrested four members of an inter-State Noniya gang from Jharkhand.

Sixty stolen mobile phones were recovered, and the accused confessed to trafficking over 200 additional devices to other States.

With active coordination involving narcotics control and other law enforcement agencies, narcotics worth ₹4.88 crore were seized in 2024, leading to the arrest of 22 accused. In 2025, seizures increased to ₹5.84 crore, with 65 accused arrested and handed over to the concerned agencies. CCTV cameras were installed at all major stations under the Salem Division. Proposals are also underway to extend CCTV coverage along vulnerable track sections to deter potential criminal activity, the press release added.