Bhubaneswar, September 10: Odisha Police rescued 101 missing children, including a three-month-old baby girl and her 17-year-old mother, during a special interstate operation conducted from August 28 to September 8 under Operation Anweshan, officials said on Thursday.
The rescued children comprised 54 boys and 47 girls. Of them, 83 were traced from child care institutions in other states, while others were rescued from cases linked to elopement, runaway incidents, alleged kidnapping and child labour. Seven children, including six boys, were rescued from labour sites.
The operation, conducted under ‘Anweshan’ by the Crime Against Women and Children Wing (CAWCW), covered 17 states. West Bengal recorded the highest number of rescues with 30, followed by Karnataka (11), Jharkhand (10) and Tamil Nadu (10).
Among the significant cases, police traced a three-month-old girl and her 17-year-old mother to a child care institution in Kerala. The teenager had allegedly been sexually abused by a friend when she was a minor.
ADG CAWCW S Shyni said the rescued children were being repatriated to Odisha for rehabilitation and reintegration.
According to police data, 4,873 children were reported missing in Odisha between January and June this year, while 5,413 children were traced during the same period.
