Pramesh S Jain
Days after Chief Minister DK Shivakumar surprise visit to the APMC Yard at Yeshwanthpur exposed the grim reality of child labour—with 19 children found working on the premises—the Bengaluru City Police on Saturday launched a massive citywide crackdown, rescuing 503 child labourers from 5,897 locations in just two hours.
The special drive,conducted from 10 am to noon on September 12,saw police teams,along with Labour Department officials,carry out surprise inspections at commercial establishments,industrial areas and other workplaces across the city.
The operation resulted in 18 cases being registered against shop and establishment owners for allegedly employing child labourers under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.
The scale of the operation emerged from the division-wise figures. 
West Division recorded the highest number of rescues at 84,followed by East (71),Central (63),North(62), North-East (55),South (54)and CCB (45).
The CCB registered nine cases,the highest among all units,while South-West registered three,East three, North-West two and West one.
The drive covered all divisions,with teams comprising DCPs,ACPs,Police Inspectors,Labour Inspectors and other personnel working under the supervision of the respective DCPs.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh,Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ajay Hilori,and Joint Commissioners C.Vamsi Krishna (West) and Ramesh B.(East).
The citywide crackdown comes in the backdrop of the CM’s surprise inspection of the APMC Yard,where the discovery of 19 children working at the premises prompted renewed focus on enforcement against child labour in Bengaluru.
