Amaravati, (Asian independent) From the total of 16,457 rescued children as part of Andhra Pradesh police department’s ‘Operation Muskaan’, Covid test of 2,195 was conducted of which only four tested positive while the police are awaiting the results of 631 more children.
“A total of 2,195 kids have already been tested for Covid until now, tests for the rest of them are underway. Unfortunately, out of those whose results have been declared, four kids have tested positive and are being given necessary medical attention,” said a police official.
‘Operation Muskaan’ was not only aimed at rescuing the lost and wayward children but also to check if they had contracted Coronavirus.
In less than a week’s time, AP police saved 16,457 children in coordination with Child-Line and Child Welfare Committee (CWC), along with district police departments at all transit points such as railways stations, bus stations, parks, hotels and others.
Director General of Police (DGP) Gautam Sawang directly supervised the rescue operation, deploying 794 police teams.
The rescued children included child labourers, children living on the streets, orphans and also those who ran away from home.
Of the 16,457, 13,588 were boys and the remaining 2,869 girls.
Some children were reunited with their family members while others were sent to child care centres.
The state police started ‘Operation Muskaan’ in January, completing three iterations already and saving a total of 25,298 children from across the southern state.