Bhubaneswar: In a major interstate operation, Odisha Police’s Crime Against Women & Children Wing traced and rescued 101 missing and trafficked Odia children from 17 states.
As per reports, the special drive, ‘Operation Anweshan’, was conducted from August 28 to September 8, 2026, in collaboration with the Women & Child Development Department, Govt of Odisha. A total of 17 teams from Odisha visited 17 destination states identified as places where Odia children are generally found. These include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Of the 101 children traced, 54 are boys and 47 girls.
According to police, the youngest child rescued is only 3 months old and was found institutionalized with her minor mother. The child who was institutionalized for the longest period was for more than 5 years. Of the total, 83 children (46 boys, 37 girls) were traced from Child Care Institutions (CCIs), 7 children (6 boys, 1 girl) from labour sites and 11 children (2 boys, 9 girls) who were reported missing and cases were registered in Odisha.
The highest number of children were traced from West Bengal (30) by the team under DSP Bamadev Nanda monitored by Pinak Mishra, DIG, Eastern Range, Balaeshwar, followed by Karnataka (11) by team under DSP Prasanata Kumar Patra of Southern Range, Berhampur, Jharkhand (10) by team under DSP Jyotsnarani Behera and Tamil Nadu (10) by team under DSP Girijanandan Pattnaik.
All children have been either repatriated or are in the process of being repatriated to Odisha for reintegration and rehabilitation.Legal cum Probation Officers of W&CD Department extended support to the operation, which was proactively supported by Dr Mrinalini Darswal, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, W&CD Department.
