Odisha police launches Operation Muskan-II

Bhubaneswar, Aug 10: The Odisha police in collaboration with the state departments of Women and Child Development and Labour today began the second phase of 'Operation Muskan-II' after rescuing as many as 1,051 children in the first phase.

The first phase continued from July 25 till August 9 while the second phase would continue till August 25. "This time our teams will locate missing children in other states," Special DG (crime) B K Sharma said.

As many as 93 children were rescued from Ganjam district, 87 from Jajpur followed by 79 in Dhenkanal, 69 in Kendrapara and 65 in Nayagarh district, he said. Sahrma said of the 1,051 children rescued, missing cases were registered only for 85 children.

He said the rescued kids will be handed over to their families while the remaining children will be rehabilitated with child care institutions.

Ten teams constituted for the drive have left for states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattishgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi NCR, Gujarat and Maharastra.

As per the direction of the Supreme Court for protection of missing children, the Odisha Police has been launching a month-long drive called 'Operation Muskan', each year in two phases since 2015.

PTI