Telangana Police Rescue Over 6,000 Children in Operation Muskaan

The Women Safety Wing of the Telangana Police rescued 6,307 children during Operation Muskaan‑XII, a nationwide initiative of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs carried out across Telangana in July. The operation rescued 5,892 boys and 415 girls, including 3,447 children from Telangana, 2,860 from 15 other Indian states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Jharkhand, and 40 children from Nepal.

Rescued children comprised 5,041 child labourers, 647 street children, 43 begging children, one bonded labourer, one orphan, 11 run‑away children and 563 others (drop‑outs, child‑marriage, illegal adoption). A total of 1,705 FIRs were filed and 1,710 accused arrested. Police deployed 124 sub‑divisional teams (620 personnel) in coordination with the Women Development & Child Welfare Department, Labour, Health, CWCs, DCPUs and NGOs. Vulnerable sites such as railway and bus stations, religious places, brick kilns, mechanic shops, construction sites and tea stalls were mapped. Children were rescued from hotels, dhabas, construction sites, grocery shops, automobile and transport sectors, retail offices, meat and chicken shops, brick kilns, roof‑tile units, welding workshops, bakeries, footwear shops and electrical/electronics shops. After rescue, 5,737 children were reunited with families and 570 placed in child‑care institutions, while the Labour Department imposed a fine of ₹3,795,356 under the Minimum Wages Act.