The police, in association with other line departments and some NGOs, conducted the seventh phase of ‘Operation Muskaan’ in the State and rescued 4,147 children on Wednesday.
Of them, 3,503 were boys and 644 were girls. Some children belonging to Telangana, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and other States were also rescued. The children would be handed over to their parents after giving counselling, said Director-General of Police D. Gautam Sawang.
Prakasam district police rescued 739 children, including 145 girls, the highest in the State, followed by 640 in Kurnool and 417 in Anantapur. The special drive was directly monitored by the Police Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of the districts concerned.
“Police provided food, clothes and necessary medical aid to the rescued children. COVID-19 tests were conducted for all the kids,” Mr. Sawang said.
Raids in Krishna
Krishna Superintendent of Police M. Ravindranath Babu said 246 children, including 68 girls, had been rescued in ‘Operation Muskaan’. The children were aged between seven and 15 years.
Raids were conducted on garages, hotels, bus and railway stations, parks, hotels and other establishments, the SP said.
District Probation Officer Bhaskar Rao, District Child Protection Officer Ch. Vijay Kumar and other officers were present.
Child labourers rescued
The police rescued 60 children in Vijayawada Police Commissionerate limits. Special teams had been constituted to rescue the child labourers engaged in shops and other establishments, said Police Commissioner B. Srinivasulu. Later, Mr. Srinivasulu handed over the rescued children to their parents.
DCPs V. Harshavardhan Raju, Mary Prasanthi, Udaya Rani and other officers participated in the drive.