Friday, 17 November 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The police recovered 1,356 missing people in the two-month long campaign Operation Smile in the State. A total of 603 women, 488 men and 265 children including 144 boys and 121 girls were recovered in the operation. Out of these 1,356 missing persons, 1,282 people belong to the State and 74 belong to other states.
In the State, the police found 385 missing persons from the Haridwar district under the campaign which is the maximum number in the State. This two-month campaign was started on September 1 as per the directions of director general of police Ashok Kumar for the search and rehabilitation of missing children, women and men. In the said campaign, a total of 26 teams were formed- four teams each in the Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, and Nainital districts and one team each in the remaining districts and railways to search for the missing persons. Each team consists of one sub inspector and four constables.
The DGP said that the campaign was conducted mostly in such places of the districts where chances of finding missing people were the most like shelter homes, dhabas, factories, bus stands, railway stations and religious places among others. Besides this, some missing persons were also matched with the unclaimed bodies recovered in the State and the bordering states. To mark the completion and success of the campaign that ended on October 31, a seminar was conducted by the DGP in Police headquarters on Thursday evening. It was joined by all police officials who played a key role in making the operation a big success. The families of the recovered missing people shared their experiences regarding Operation Smile.
The DGP said on the occasion that Operation Smile is the best example of victim-centric policing and shows the police’s sensitivity regarding sensitive matters of the public. He also congratulated all the officials concerned for their hard work to make the 12th phase of the campaign the most successful since its launch in 2015. He said that since 2015, the police have reunited a total of 4,611 people including 2,486 children, 1,207 women and 918 men with their families under this operation.
