Bhubaneswar: A three-month-old girl and her 17-year-old mother, who was allegedly raped by her “friend”, were among the 101 children Odisha police rescued during a special interstate operation conducted between Aug 28 and Sept 8, police said on Thursday.Of the rescued children, who were from different age groups, 54 were boys and 47 girls. A majority of 83 children comprising 46 boys and 37 girls had been staying in child care institutions (CCIs) outside Odisha for months due to delays in completing legal and administrative procedures across state jurisdictions.The remaining children were traced in cases involving alleged kidnapping linked to elopements, runaway incidents and child labour. Police sources said seven children, including six boys, were rescued from work sites, mostly from roadside eateries, in different states.The operation, carried out under the banner ‘Anweshan’, covered 17 states — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. “The drive was coordinated by Crime Against Women and Children Wing (CAW&CW) in collaboration with the state women and child development department,” said S Shyni, ADG, CAW&CW.West Bengal accounted for the highest number of rescues at 30, followed by Karnataka (11), Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu (both 10).In a notable case, a three-month-old baby and her 17-year-old mother were traced to a CCI in Kerala. Police said the teenager was allegedly sexually abused by her “friend”. An FIR was registered in Kerala based on the survivor’s complaint a few months ago. According to police sources, the man has been arrested and is in judicial custody. The minor’s pregnancy came to light when she reached a local hospital in Kerala for treatment. The hospital authorities informed the police after learning that she is a minor. She later lodged a complaint.Shyni said the operation focused on tracing missing children through field-level searches, verification of leads, and coordination with authorities and child care institutions in other states. “All rescued children have either been repatriated or are in the process of being brought back to Odisha for reintegration and rehabilitation,” Shyni said, adding that legal-cum-probation officers of the women and child development department provided necessary support during the rescue and repatriation process.Odisha police data show that 4,873 children — 538 boys, 4,334 girls and a transgender child — were reported missing in the state between Jan and June this year. During the same period, police traced 5,413 children, including 4,674 girls, who went missing in the last few years, officers said.
