E-Paper
173 missing children in Uttarkhand, traced in 15 days: Police
The Uttarakhand Police have traced 173 missing children in the first 15 days of the ongoing ‘Operation Smile’ in the state
The Uttarakhand Police have traced 173 missing children in the first 15 days of the ongoing ‘Operation Smile’ in the state.
The operation is a special month-long drive to trace and rehabilitate children. It started on February 1 and will run throughout the month.
Among the children who have been traced, missing complaints of only 41 were registered. A total of 135 children have been reunited with their families, while the remaining 38 have been sent to child shelter homes. Police said they are trying to find details of their parents.
Six children who have been traced by the police are from other states. This includes two from Uttar Pradesh, two from Delhi, one each from Chandigarh and Haryana.
The figures were released during a meeting called by the additional director general of police (ADGP) Ashok Kumar to review the progress of Operation Smile.
According to police data, maximum number of children have been traced in Haridwar district. Between February 1 and 15, a total of 29 missing children were traced in the district. This was followed by Champawat where 28 children were traced.
The three plain districts of Haridwar, Udhamsingh Nagar and Dehradun contributed 39% of the children who have been traced. This indicates the high crime rate in these districts and the same has also been established in past reports.
Over the years, crime against children in Uttarakhand have been on the rise. According to the reports of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the case of crime against children rose from 489 in 2014 to 635 in 2015. In 2016, the state registered 676 such crimes, an increase of 38% from the figure in 2014.
The NCRB report for 2016 also positions Uttarakhand as the most vulnerable state for children among the Himalayan states.
Nationally, the state was ranked 20th among 36 states and union territories in terms of incidence of crimes against children.
