Operation Nanhe Farishte: RPF rescues over 580 children in South Western Railway Zone
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Bengaluru: In a significant step towards protecting vulnerable children, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of the South Western Railway (SWR) zone has successfully rescued 583 children between April 2024 and March 2025 under its rescue initiative, ‘Operation Nanhe Farishte’.
Of the total rescued, 480 were boys and 103 were girls, according to the data accessed by The Hindu. These children were either reunited with their families or placed under institutional care.
Launched in July 2017, Operation Nanhe Farishte — which means "Little Angels" — is a dedicated mission to identify and safeguard children in distress or suspicious circumstances at railway stations and onboard trains. It specifically aims to prevent children from falling victim to trafficking, child labour, and other forms of exploitation.
“Although hundreds of children have been rescued in the last year, no case of trafficking has been registered by the RPF in the past three years within the SWR zone,” The Hindu quoted Manjunath Kanmadi, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of South Western Railway as saying. However, officials noted that the operation continues to play a vital role in safeguarding children before harm can occur.
Kanmadi explained that once a child is found under suspicious circumstances, they are brought to the RPF office for an initial inquiry to determine their background — whether they are runaways, missing, mentally challenged, kidnapped, struggling with substance abuse, abandoned, or potential victims of child labour. “They are first brought to a helpdesk, given food, rest, medical check-up and counselling, before being placed in safe custody,” he added.
Despite playing a key role in rescue operations, the RPF does not have the legal authority to arrest suspected traffickers under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.
The operation relies heavily on support from NGOs, which assist in identifying vulnerable children, conducting initial enquiries, and training RPF personnel in child protection practices; these organisations also help raise public awareness, the report added.
Authorities have urged the public to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity involving children at railway stations. Citizens can reach out through the security helpline at 182, the National Childline at 1098, or the police helpline 100.
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Krunal's rare IPL fifty helps RCB beat DC and extend unbeaten away run
RCB jump to top of IPL 2025 points table
New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI): Krunal Pandya recorded his first fifty in IPL since 2016, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru pull off a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on a challenging Feroz Shah Kotla track here on Sunday.
Krunal (73 not out of 47 balls), who has part of every IPL season since his debut in 2016, paced his innings perfectly while batting alongside chase master Virat Kohli (51 off 47).
The duo shared a 119-run stand off 84 balls as RCB chased down 163 in 18.3 overs to extend their unbeaten run away from home.
RCB bowlers put a squeeze on Delhi Capitals in the middle overs through Josh Hazlewood and the spinners to limit the home team to 162 for six.
For RCB, it was their seventh win in 10 games while DC suffered only their third loss in nine matches. Both teams are on course to make the play-offs.
At 26 for three, RCB felt the heat before Krunal and Kohli bailed them out.
In his maiden season for RCB, Krunal has made valuable contributions with both bat and ball.
On Sunday night, Kohli played the perfect anchor as Krunal came up with timely hits on a difficult surface to deliver a fine win for his team. His straight hit through the line off Mukesh Kumar and an aerial drive over cover off the wily Kuldeep Yadav stood out among his four sixes.
Kohli's consistency has been remarkable this season and the knock against DC was his sixth 50-plus score in 10 innings. The highlight of his solid effort was the straight drive off Mitchell Starc.
The night, however, belonged to Krunal who collected only his second 50-plus score in 116 IPL innings.
Earlier, K L Rahul (41 off 39 balls) was the top-scorer for DC but it was Tristian Stubbs (34 off 18 balls) who helped the hosts post a fighting total.
RCB put the opposition in to bat, expecting better batting conditions during the run chase.
Faf du Plessis (22 off 26 balls) returned from injury to join Abhishek Porel (28 off 11) at the top of the order but it was the latter who ensured DC reached 52 for two in the powerplay.
The southpaw, who has been in fine form this season, came up with a couple of sizzling sixes in his entertaining cameo. Both came off Bhuvneshwar Kumar -- one was a left-handed hit over mid-wicket and the second was a pick-up shot over fine leg.
As veteran du Plessis struggled to get going at the other end, Porel found the ropes with relative ease.
Lead RCB pacer Hazlewood, who has been relentless with his hard lengths, took three balls to get the breakthrough as he cramped Porel to have him caught behind down the leg side.
Karun Nair, who began with a short arm pull off Hazlewood for a boundary, played an ordinary shot off Yash Dayal in the following over and his mishit was pouched at mid-wicket.
The spinners got into operation after the powerplay and overs 7-10 was the phase when RCB were able to stem the flow of runs, conceding just 20 runs off the four overs from Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya, who got rid of du Plessis in that period.
It was only towards the end of the innings that DC managed to get some momentum, all thanks to the blitzkrieg from Stubbs.
The 18th and 19th over from Hazlewood and Dayal yielded 17 and 19 runs, enabling DC to cross the 160-run mark.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals: 162 for 8 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 41; Bhuveshwar Kumar 3/33).
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 165 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 73, Virat Kohli 51; Axar Patel 2/19).
