To prioritise rescue and rehabilitation of missing children, the City police, in a first-ever initiative, will inaugurate a dedicated police outpost for missing children at the Child Welfare Committee near the National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences and Kidwai Institute of Oncology on Thursday.

They will also launch an online database of missing children in Karnataka in tandem with Bosco, a voluntary organisation which has been involved in maintaining a national database of missing children for several years now and is part of the Child Helpline. The initiative to track and rescue missing children is the culmination of ‘Operation Rakshane’, which was launched on December 2 with the help of voluntary organisations and other government departments.

“Henceforth, cases dealing with children in conflict with law and those in need of care and protection will be registered and investigated by the police outpost, which, in future, will become a full-fledged police station. Right now, the outpost will be headed by sub-inspector,” said a senior police officer. “We have also decided to launch an online database of missing children in the State in tandem with Bosco to monitor and track missing children. The database will be regularly updated and the children found will be listed,” he added.

So far, over 400 beggar children, including over 100 infants, have been rescued in the City by the police, Department of Women and Child Development, Department of Health, Child Rights Commission, CWC- I & II and voluntary organisations including Apsa, Bosco, Rescue, Oasis, Sparsha, Justice & Care and Paraspara after a four-month long sustained effort.