Three police officers from the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of Delhi Police – DCP crime HQ Dr Joy Tirkey, ACP Surender Gulia and Inspector Manoj Kumar – were honoured with the first-ever Humming Bird awards at Mavalankar Auditorium, Constitution Club on Friday.
The awards have been instituted by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF) to recognise ‘unsung changemakers’ who have gone out of their way to ensure protection of children.
The function, inaugurated by Union Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, was a call for action for people to secure the rights of children and work collectively towards creation of a world where all children are safe and healthy, receive quality education and live with dignity.
Others present on the occasion included Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and Special Commissioner of Delhi Police Praveer Ranjan. To ignite and enhance compassion among people for children and encouraging them to fight various forms of exploitation of children, making the world a safer place for them, the KSCF announced that it will henceforth observe January 11 as Surakshit Bachoan Diwas every year.
Dr Tirkey has been associated with Delhi AHTU since its inception in 2011, while ACP Gulia has been heading the AHTU since 2017. Under his supervision, 978 missing persons, of which 152 were minors, were traced by the unit in 2019 alone. Besides, the AHTU also traced 104 abducted persons, including 86 minors. Under Gulia’s leadership, the AHTU rescued and restored 626 children under ‘Operation Milap’, a Delhi Police initiative to rescue street children.
Last year, 36 sensitive cases were transferred by the Delhi High Court to the AHTU, which successfully traced most of the abducted persons. Inspector Kumar, working with the AHTU since 2018, has traced 301 missing persons, including 138 men and 163 women and several minors, across Delhi in 2019 with the support of his team. After the award ceremony, Indie-fusion band ‘Indian Ocean’ gave a sterling performance.