98 children have reunited with their parents while the others have been sent to child care homes

The Uttar Pradesh Police rescued 116 children reported missing from their homes from across the State between October 15 and October 21.

Of the 116 children, 98 have reunited with their parents while the others have been sent to child care homes, State IG (Law and Order) A. Satish Ganesh said on Thursday. “These 18 children were unable to provide information about their parents, or place of residence.” The police, he added, were trying to find out the details.

There was a likelihood that the kids were exploited as child labourers, or were employed in roadside shops, the IG said.

The police were in the process of gathering details, he added, refusing to rule out the possibility of action being taken those found to have employed the kids as child labourers.

In the State-wide campaign, named ‘Operation Smile’, the police rescued 46 children in the Meerut police zone, the highest during the campaign, followed by 15 in Lucknow zone and 14 in Agra zone. Eleven missing kids were found in Varanasi zone, seven in Bareilly Police zone, six in Allahabad zone, five in Gorakhpur zone and four in Kanpur zone. Details of ‘Operation Smile’ held from October 21 to 28 was being compiled, the IG added.

According to the data on missing children available with the police, 12,763 children have been reported missing from across the State since 2011. Of these, the police claim to have rescued 10,247 children.

The campaign was first launched in Ghaziabad in September and following its success the police decided to replicate it in rest of the State. The campaign was launched afresh at the behest of the Director General of Police A.L. Banerjee.