In a major operation, 446 minors employed in small-scale units in Mumbai were rescued and 44 employers arrested on Wednesday, official sources said.

Raids were conducted on 226 business units, Additional Police Commissioner Subodh Jaiswal said.

He said the raids were conducted with the help of a few non-government organisations that work for the welfare of children.

The rescued children were working in zari, leather and engineering units, Jaiswal said. Most of them, he added, were paid paltry sums as remuneration.

The operation that lasted three hours was carried out in Nagpada and Madanpura areas of central Mumbai, he said.

Jaiswal said the Dagad and Shirin chawl in Nagpada housed the maximum number of such units.

The ACP said the 44 employers held would be booked under the Juvenile Justice Act and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the Labour Department has decided to fine the business units Rs 20,000 for every minor employed, government sources said.