58 kids rescued in first week of Operation Smile-II

As many as 58 children have been rescued in Noida and Greater Noida under Operation Smile-II, which was launched last week. 

Operation  Smile aims to trace and reunite missing children with their families. 

The Noida Police Crime Branch, which have been assigned the duty to execute the operation, have created eight teams, which are carrying out search and rescue operations at a large-scale in and around Gautam Budh Nagar district.

According to officials at the crime branch, three teams each from Noida and Greater Noida, one women police team and one Special Task Force (STF) have been constituted.

The teams, after going through the missing/ kidnapping reports registered in the district, collected a list of 75 missing children and began the search. Of these, 51 children were found in shelter homes, working at local eating joints/ restaurants, construction sites and in abandoned areas. 

The police also rescued seven children who had either gone missing or were kidnapped from other districts.

The police also claimed to have unearthed a gang involved in human trafficking, who kidnap children and force them into beggary and other activities that are against child labour norms. 

The police have reunited four of the rescued children  with their families, while the remaining are housed in shelter homes.  The next phase of the operation has also started.

“During the first phase, Operation Smile-I which had taken place for almost a month, we had reunited as many as 111 children, who were missing from across the country, with their respective families; while in the second edition, we have rescued 58 children. Apart from searching for more such children, our teams are working to reunite them with their families. We have also initiated a penal action against those involved in illegal confinement of children,” said Vishwajeet Shrivastava, Superintendent of Police (Crime), Noida, who is also the nodal officer for this operation.

The official informed that seven children were rescued from an illegal shelter in Greater Noida’s Bisrakh area and one Devraj Gaur was arrested. “We have rescued  23 children from and an illegal shelter in Meerut and seven from Greater Noida. We have busted a gang involved in human trafficking and forcing children into beggary. The mastermind of the gang Devraj Gaur has been arrested,” added Shrivastava.