Chhattisgarh witnessed one of its most humane policing drives recently. Under “Operation Muskaan”, police teams fanned out across districts, bus terminals, railway stations, and shelters—searching for children who had vanished from homes years ago. The relentless search had culminated in 814(including 701 Girls and 113 boys)reunions. It wasn’t just a collection of numbers; it was the joy of children being brought home and families made whole again.
” Operation Muskaan ” was designed as a focused mission to trace missing children across the State and beyond. District Superintendents of Police and designated nodal officers implemented the operation with exceptional commitment—visiting every possible location, scanning records, and following faint leads that sometimes went cold for years.
The results have been remarkable. During July, police teams traced 814 missing children, including 113 boys and 701 girls. Of these, 122 children were rescued from other states—among them Uttar Pradesh (9), Bihar (6), Madhya Pradesh (24), Andhra Pradesh (4), Telangana (12), Odisha (8), Delhi (3), Maharashtra (31), Punjab (1), Haryana (1), Gujarat (3), Rajasthan (4), Jharkhand (5), Jammu & Kashmir (4), Tamil Nadu (6), and Himachal Pradesh (1).
The Durg district police led the campaign, rescuing 181 children, followed by Bilaspur (151) and Janjgir-Champa (60). Each case tells a story not just of efficient policing, but of relentless hope—of officers who refused to give up.
One such story comes from Durg’s Supela police station, where a girl reported missing in 2018 was finally traced seven years later in Chhapra, Bihar. The emotional reunion with her parents symbolized what ” Operation Muskaan ” truly stands for—a smile restored after years of uncertainty.
Another moving case emerged from Bilaspur’s Sipat area, where a young girl who had disappeared on her way to school in 2019 was found six years later and safely returned to her family. The operation also brought home 151 missing children from Bilaspur district alone—14 boys and 137 girls, many of them between six and nine years old.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Archana Jha, who supervised the Bilaspur operation, explained that teams were dispatched to several states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab. “Every case mattered,” she said. “We wanted every child to come home, no matter how far the search had to go.”
This was not the first such effort. Just a month earlier, under “Operation Talaash”, the police had successfully traced over 1,056 missing men and women, proving that sustained focus and cross-state coordination can yield extraordinary outcomes.
Reflecting on the operation’s success, Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Arun Dev Gautam said that Operation Muskaan represented “the heart of policing—service with empathy.” He credited the district teams for pursuing long-pending cases and coordinating with agencies across states to ensure safe reunions. “The smile on a child’s face,” he added, “is the greatest reward an officer can receive.”
Senior Superintendent of Police Rajnesh Singh announced rewards for officers who played an outstanding role in reuniting children with their families.
Beyond the data, the true achievement of Operation Muskaan lies in the emotional restoration it has brought—homes that had lost hope now echo once again with laughter. In the quiet words of one mother from Durg, “For seven years, I prayed only to see my daughter’s face again. The police brought back not just my child, but my life.”
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai called Operation Muskaan a proud moment for Chhattisgarh. “When a lost child returns home, it is not only a family’s happiness that returns—it is society’s trust in governance and policing that grows stronger,” he said. “This campaign shows that sensitivity and efficiency can go hand in hand in public service.”