Three missing girls traced by cops under Operation 'Muskan'

Three girls who had gone missing from Navi Mumbai were traced and reunited with their families by police's anti-human trafficking cell (AHTC) under 'Operation Muskan', police said Thursday.

A six-year-old girl was reported missing by her father on October 15, 2016.

During the investigation, police got to know the man and his wife had separated.

They found that the woman had taken the child along with her to another place in Navi Mumbai without informing her husband or police about it, a release issued by the Navi Mumbai police said.

The woman was traced to Karave village in Nerul township on December 4 this year and the child was found with her. The minor's father was informed about her well-being, police said.

In another case, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped by a man from Nerul on October 12 this year.

During the probe, the AHTC traced the girl to Gulbarga in Karnataka and she was reunited with her parents on Monday, the police said.

Besides, a 15-year-old girl was allegedly abducted from Rabale area on October 22.

The police got a tip-off that the kidnapper had taken the minor to Solapur on the promise of marrying her.

In the meantime, the accused got a whiff of police closing-in on him. While he was returning to Navi Mumbai with the girl on November 30, he was caught, the police said.

The girl was rescued and reunited with her parents, they added.

According to police, the main aim of Operation Muskan is to prevent child trafficking and rescue children from persons who tried to engage them in begging, sexual trade and other anti-social activities.