BHUBANESWAR: As part of Operation Anwesan, Odisha Police has during the last two weeks traced and rescued 101 children from around 17 states in the country. The youngest among the rescued kids is a three-month-old infant.
The Crime Against Women and Children Wing (CAW&CW) carried out the special campaign to trace, rescue and facilitate the safe repatriation of the Odia children.
Led by a DSP-rank officer and a legal-cum-probation official of the Women and Child Development department, around 17 teams were involved in the operation. The teams travelled to different states and camped their for 10-12 days.
They coordinated with the local police and authorities concerned in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala to trace the children and facilitate their rescue and repatriation.
ADG, CAW&CW, Shyni S told mediapersons on Thursday that during the operation, children were rescued under different circumstances, including cases related to kidnapping, while they were engaged as child labourers and those residing in child care institutions (CCIs) across the 17 states.
Of the total, nine girls and two boys were traced in connection with previously registered kidnapping cases, six boys and one girl were rescued from labour sites, and 46 boys and 37 girls were repatriated from the CCIs during the drive, she added.
So far, around 80 children have been repatriated from CCIs and CAW&CW is carrying out the process to bring back the remaining kids in coordination with the authorities concerned. The operation also brought to light several sensitive cases involving vulnerable children.
“Among those rescued was a three-month-old infant who was born to an Odia minor girl while she was residing in another state. Efforts are being undertaken to bring the minor girl and her infant child back to Odisha,” said Shyni.
In another case, a one-year-old child was found to be residing in a CCI. The authorities took steps to trace the child’s mother and facilitated their reunion. The operation involved extensive coordination between Odisha Police, WCD department, local police and CCIs in the respective states, she added.