Uttarakhand police have rescued 44 missing children from various districts under "Operation Smile' and handed them over to their family members. The Operation Smile has been re-launched from July 1 in the State.
Reports of missing children in nine cases were registered under section 364 of IPC in the police stations concerned while in 31 cases, no report on missing of children was registered in the police station concerned.Thirteen children were kept at child care centres in respective districts. Their family members have been informed and they will be handed over to them once they reach.
A report received from the police headquarters revealed that 17 children were rescued from Haridwar, five from Tehri Garhwal, four from Nainital, four from Bageshwar, four from Almora, three from Pauri Garhwal, three from Pithoragarh, two from Uttarkashi and two from Dehradun. Some of them were found working in hotels or restaurants in the districts. Reports have been sent to the labour commission, seeking action against the errant hotel owners for employing the minors.