Bhubaneswar, Sep 4 (IANS): As many as 82 children from Odisha, including 21 girls, have been rescued from other states under the 'Operation Paree-III' initiative, an official said here on Wednesday.

Under 'Operation Paree-III', a total of eight teams comprising officers of Odisha Police and officials of the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department had gone to various states.

They rescued trafficked children, specially those working as labourers, and missing from homes.

According to a WCD official, 20 children from Andhra Pradesh, 17 from West Bengal, 15 from Tamil Nadu, nine from Jharkhand, eight from Chhattisgarh, five from Maharashtra and four each from Telangana and Delhi, have been rescued.

The rescued children were produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and, thereafter, sent to various shelter homes.

The Odisha Police and the state WCD Department have been launching such campaigns every year to trace missing children in the state and from other states as well.