Operation Muskaan XI launched in Cyberabad

Cyberabad police, on Wednesday, launched Operation Muskaan - XI, a month-long drive aimed at tracing missing children and rescuing minors from various forms of exploitation, including begging, child labour, trafficking, and bonded labour.

The 11th edition of the operation will be carried out till July 31. A total of 11 dedicated teams, each comprising a Sub-Inspector and four constables (including a woman constable), have been constituted to carry out rescue and rehabilitation missions.

Cyberabad Women and Children’s Safety Wing Deputy Commissioner of Police K. Srujana announced that the police would use facial recognition software ‘Darpan’ to identify the missing and unidentified children. “The application will help us trace children who have been separated from their families due to various circumstances,” she said.

“We have identified clusters/hotspots where children were previously found forced into labour, based on data from earlier cases where teams will now coordinate the rescue and rehabilitation work,” she said.

Among those present at the meeting were senior officials from Child Welfare committees of Ranga Reddy and Medchal districts, District Child Protection units, Health officials, and representatives of Bala Raksha Bhavan and the Association for Voluntary Action.