The police rescued 21 children working in various places in Ganjam district as a part of Operation Muskan. A special operation was launched to rescue Odisha's missing children. The child labourers were rescued from Hinjili on Saturday, the first day of the third edition of the month-long drive. They were working in eateries, garages, grocery stores and garment shops, said Prasant Kumar Sahoo, Inspector-In-Charge of Hinjili police station.

The rescued children are aged between 10-15 years, a police officer said. They have been sent to Childline, he said. "We will hand over the children to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) after counselling them," said the director of Childline, Sudhir Sabat.

The parents of the rescued children have also been intimated. Steps would be taken to rehabilitate them, he added. Before the beginning of the third edition of Operation Muskan that was launched on July 15, the police on Friday had rescued six children from different places at Chhatrapur. Those children were working in hotels and garages. "Three of them have already been united with their parents after counselling," said Sabat.