The Haryana Police have reunited 105 missing children and 110 adults with their families during the first week of ongoing ‘Operation Smile’.
Sharing the information on Monday, a Haryana Police spokesperson said 84 missing children were traced and reunited by district police teams and the remaining 21 were reunited by the Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) of State Crime Branch. This apart, 97 missing adults were traced by district police teams and 13 were traced and reunited by AHTU teams.
The spokesperson said the police teams have also rescued 80 beggars and 107 bonded labourers who were found begging or doing odd jobs for their livelihood. “Our teams have been working relentlessly to bring back smile on the faces of families whose children have gone missing,” he added.
A month-long special campaign “Operation Smile” is being carried out against human trafficking in the state in the month of April. Under this drive, missing children and adults are traced and reunited with their families. Through the campaign, the police aim to raise awareness about the issue of human trafficking and encourage people to report any suspicious activity related to human trafficking. Apart from the missing, the state police also rescued bonded laborers and child beggars.
The additional director general of police (ADGP), OP Singh said directed all AHTU working under the State Crime Branch to visit all shelter homes in other states to find out the children living there and belonging to Haryana. There are many children who have wandered to other states and are not able to tell their home address due to the language barrier, he said.
According to the DGP Haryana, PK Agrawal, the officers of all the districts have been instructed to form special teams. The said team will be headed by a DSP level officer so that the benefits of the special drive reach the masses.