BHUBANESWAR: As many as 39 missing children were rescued from Telangana during Operation Muskan-III, a campaign launched by Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The southern State topped the list of States from where children, who had either gone missing or were working in several establishments, were rescued during the drive. The number of children rescued from other States is five boys, one girl from Maharashtra, three from Kerala, three from Uttar Pradesh, nine from Delhi and Haryana, six from Andhra Pradesh, three from Jharkhand and Bihar, 19 from West Bengal and 16 from Tamil Nadu. Children have also been rescued from Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Informing this, Crime Branch Special DG, BK Sharma, said close to 3,000 children have been rescued under Operation Muskan-III. “The rescued children, who were either missing or were working in several establishments outside, are being brought back to Odisha from various parts of the country through trains. Once all the teams return, we can ascertain the exact number of rescued children,” Sharma said.
The campaign was monitored by State Crime Branch and carried out in joint coordination with Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU), Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP).
The campaign was conducted in two phases. The first phase, which was conducted from July 15 to 31, focused on rescuing missing children from within the State.The second phase started on July 31 and concentrated on rescuing children from various parts of the country. Sources said last year, around 2,610 missing children were rescued under operation Muskan-II.