Operation Muskaan-X: Cyberabad cops start using facial recognition tech to rescue homeless kids

Hyderabad: A meeting for the launch of Operation Muskaan-X was held on July 1 at the Cyberabad CP office in the Main Conference Hall. The operation aims to trace missing children and rescue those involved in begging, rag-picking, child labour, trafficking, bonded labour, etc.

The Cyberabad Police are launching Operation Muskaan-X from July 1 to 31. The initiative aims to rescue and rehabilitate homeless children and those forced into child labour, including begging and rag-picking children.

Special teams have been formed for this purpose, each consisting of a sub inspector and four police constables (including one woman police constable), with a total of 11 teams. These teams will identify and rescue/rehabilitate children trapped in trafficking.

Using facial recognition software

During the convergence meeting, Cyberabad Women & Children Safety Wing (W&CSW) DCP K Srujana stated that they would be using facial recognition software Darphan to identify missing and unidentified children who have been separated from their families due to various reasons.

Speaking on this occasion, Cyberabad W&CSW DCP requested that all stakeholder departments cooperate and coordinate with the Operation Muskaan-X teams. All the stakeholder department officials assured their full cooperation for this operation.

DCP Srujana will supervise the operations of the teams. “Operation Muskaan-X will continue until the end of July, with the support of the stakeholder departments,” said B James Babu, Inspector of Police, AHTU, Cyberabad.

Cops to check pre-identified clusters of child labour spots

The police have identified clusters/hotspots where children are found forced into labour based on the data from previous cases.

“Our teams, along with other stakeholder departments, will coordinate the rescue and rehabilitation work,” added B James Babu.