Andhra: Mother-son reunited after four years under 'Operation Muskaan COVID-19' campaign

Jul 18, 2020

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], July 18 : The 'Operation Muskaan COVID-19' campaign of Andhra Pradesh police has resulted in a mother-son being reunited in Andhra Pradesh after a gap of four years.
Andhra Pradesh DGP Gautam Sawang had launched a special drive under the flagship campaign, to cater help to those kids who were troubled during the crisis phase.
Bobba Sri Lalitha, a resident of Palakollu in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh had lost her husband soon after the birth of her second son, Srinivas. Struggling to make ends meet, Lalitha had to resort to taking up menial jobs, sometimes even acting as a rag picker to feed her sons.
In 2016, a young Srinivas had fled by boarding a train in Palakollu and ended up at the Vijayawada railway station. Upon discovery, the railway police rescued Srinivas and had shifted him to a child care centre in Vijayawada.
Srinivas finally revealed that he is a native of Palakollu in the West Godavari district. The same was then communicated to the CWC of West Godavari by the Vijayawada CWC.
The authorities swung into action and successfully traced his mother and reunited them after a long gap of four years.
"It is very heartwarming to be able to facilitate the reunion of a mother-son duo after almost 4 years. Things like these give us immense satisfaction and keep us going. Each kid who has been rescued has a heart-wrenching story. It is to make this kind of difference in the lives of the vulnerable, that this initiative was launched. I would also like to take this opportunity to appreciate our front line warriors for executing the plan so well," DGP Sawang said.
Under the initiative, 2,739 kids have been rescued within 72 hours by the authority in the state.
This includes the release of 10 children employed as 'bonded labour' by a company Andhra' Perecherla. All the kids from Bihar, have now been rescued and shifted to child care homes while a case has been registered on the company management. This drive will continue till July 20.