CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Police has traced 1,716 missing children this year and handed them over to their families in different parts of the country, Director General of Police, Manoj Yadava said here on Tuesday.
Among the traced children, 771 are boys and 945 girls.
Some of these children had been missing for a long time, he said.
The state police also tracked and rescued 1,189 child beggars and 1,941 child labourers during the year.
These children were found either working in shops or doing odd jobs for their livelihood.
Yadava said apart from maintaining law and order and curbing crime during the hard times of a pandemic year, "our officers and jawans also prioritised to trace and reunite missing children with their family".
He said in a statement that 1,433 missing children were traced and reunited by field units and the remaining 283 were traced by the specialised Anti-Human Trafficking units of the State Crime Branch.
The Haryana Police is conducting a drive to reunite missing children with the support of child welfare councils, non-government organisations and departments concerned, the senior police officer added.