Lakhimpur Kheri (UP), May 21 (IANS): A 10-year-old boy, who was found selling illicit liquor in Nighasan, has been rescued by the police.

The boy, who quit school because of the pandemic, was allegedly being forced to sell liquor by his father and uncle.

Action was taken after a policeman came across a video in which the minor can be seen selling liquor to the customers.

During investigation, the police learnt that the boy had stopped going to school and was beaten by his father when he refused to sell liquor.

The accused father and uncle have been arrested and FIR registered against them under sections of the JJ Act and the Excise Act.

SHO Nighasan police station, D.K. Singh, told reporters, "We just had a viral video and after conducting a brief investigation, we managed to find that a family in Kripakund village sells illicit liquor in their grocery store. When we raided the village, the boy's parents were sitting at the shop while the boy was serving liquor in a small 'bar', just behind their shop. The uncle was preparing illicit liquor inside their house. The boy's father and the uncle were arrested along with 115 litres of illicit liquor."

Senior Superintendent of Police, Kheri, Vijay Dhull said that the family had been running this business for the past two years.

"The boy is the youngest among two brothers and a sister. He was handed over to the Child Welfare Committee as per rules. His father and uncle have been booked under sections 60/2 and 272 of the Excise Act and Section 78 of Juvenile Justice Act," said Dhull.

Anoop Kumar Saxena, chairperson of CWC, Kheri, said, "This is the first such reported case in Kheri in the past five years where a minor was rescued while serving liquor at a commercial establishment. Also, it is for the first time that we invoked Section 78 of the JJ, which can lead to imprisonment up to seven years with Rs 1 lakh fine. The boy was not aware of the fact that he was committing a crime."

The CWC, however, made an exception and has handed the boy back to his mother on Thursday because she was not made an accused by the police.

"The Childline team will keep an eye on the children and we will try to enroll the boy under a beneficiary scheme where there is a provision of Rs 2,000 every month," added Saxena.