18 October 2026
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Busting Gangs of Child Lifters

SSP of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Kalanidhi Naithani has started a good work of uniting the lost and kidnapped with their parents under his mission ‘Smile’. In a recent crackdown on the culprits, the police teams have not only recovered quite a few of the missing children, but also apprehended some key accused.
Indian Masterminds Stories

Nothing can be more painful than being separated from your child, for whatever reason. Nobody wants to go through this feeling anytime in their life. Now in past few years, many kids gor separated from their parents due to the increase in human trafficking incidents. They are many gangs involved in the human trafficking and stealing of children takes all over the world. 

To bust those gangs and unite the kids with their parents SSP of Aligarh Police Mr. Kalanidhi Naithani has started a noble initiative named ‘Smile’. 

Mr. Naithani is currently the SSP of Aligarh

The 2010-batch officer who has also served as SSP Lucknow & Ghaziabad believes that no work is bigger than uniting the lost kid with their mothers. With this thought he has started operation Smile and constituted a team of Aligarh police personnel under the leadership of City SP Mr. Kuldeep Gunawat. 

Going After Human Traffickers 

Operation Smile has recently been started by the SSP, Mr. Naithani. The first step in the mission was to develop a team who is efficient enough to locate a child, rescue them and arresting the accused. So, he started it by gathering the team from different police station in the district. He also recasted the Anti-Human Trafficking team and gave them the stature of a station area in the district. 

The team worked day & night and has rescued 6 children stolen from different district under Operation ‘Smile’. 

Five children rescued in a one-night operation 

Under Operation Smile, the police team recently rescued five children in a one-night operation. The children were stolen from different districts in the last seven months. Two of these were from Ghaziabad, falling under the National Capital Region (NCR). It was a combined victorty by the anti-trafficking unit, police team of Mahuakhera (Aligarh), andsurveillance team under City SP Mr. Gunwat, who led this operation and arrested the gang of 16 people involved in stealing, brokering and trading of child. 

Mr. Naithani with his team during his days as the SSP, Lucknow

The police started the operation after getting a lead that three leaders of the gang were coming to steal a child on a motorbike. 

The police arrested them and on the basis of their interrogation all other members of their gangs were also apprehended. 

Nine women were also involved in this gang who were actively participating in the trading of the kid. 

In a video message sent to Indian Masterminds, IPS officer Mr. Naithani said, “The gang used to steal the children playing outside their houses. They used to first mark the children, click their pictures and sent it to the potential buyers. The female members used to brokerage in selling those children to the families who wanted to adopt the kids. They would usually charge between 50,000 to several lakhs for one child. Our team has seized fake adoption papers from the houses of people who used to buy the kids. We have arrested all the top to bottom members of this gang.” 

In a similar operation led by the Aligarh police with the help of Ghaziabad police, a child and five accused were also arrested. 


Indian Masterminds Stories
Join our WhatsApp Channel
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
Gaganyaan Separation Tests
Why ISRO’s Latest Separation Test is One of the Most Important Test for India’s First Human Spaceflight
Ins samarthak
INS Samarthak Joins Indian Navy: 5 Key Facts About India’s New Warship
Right to Internet Access
Supreme Court Recognises Internet Access As A Fundamental Right For Children
Indian Defence Spending
Indian Defence Spending Push: Why A 35% Modernisation Hike Is Being Sought
IndoWings UCAV_IN_X-2
This Make in India Drone Can Reach and Trace Pakistan Within Minutes 
DRDO STANAG Level 6
DRDO’s New Lightweight Armour Technology Targets 30mm AP Threats
Indian AMCA Programme
These 3 Defence Companies Will Build India's Dream Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Represent India at 25th SCO Heads of Government Meeting in Tajikistan on October 19-20
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Dr Saket Badola IFS
Beyond Tigers and Safaris: How Corbett Literature Festival Wants to Change the Conservation Conversation
PK Jena
Why Technology Cannot Replace Human Connection in Governance: P.K. Jena
PK Jena
The IAS Officer Who Put People Before Paperwork: How PK Jena Challenged Corruption and Reformed Governance
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
Bhikan Rojekar UPSC
He missed MBBS by 1 mark in 2016; Maharashtra’s Bhikan Rojekar secures UPSC AIR 812
Bhikan Rojekar secured AIR 812 in UPSC CSE 2025 in his third attempt. Read how the son of a farm labourer...
Umar Janj UPSC CAPF
15+ Failures Couldn’t Stop Him: Umar Janj Secures AIR 160 in UPSC CAPF 2025
After multiple SSB setbacks, a CAPF interview miss by 12 marks and more than 15 failures, Umar Janj secured...
Aayush Sharma
Three CDS Attempts, Five AFCAT Qualifications & Medical Setback: How Aayush Sharma Secured CAPF AIR 135
After three unsuccessful SSB attempts, five AFCAT qualifications and a medical setback, Aayush Sharma...
CSR NEWS
NBCC India CSR Award 2026
NBCC India Wins Award for Excellence in CSR at 4th Fortune Leadership Awards 2026
The recognition honours NBCC’s community welfare initiatives and efforts to improve healthcare accessibility...
HURL ALIMCO
HURL Signs MoU with ALIMCO to Support Divyangjans and Senior Citizens in Gorakhpur, Barauni and Sindri
Under its CSR initiative, HURL will support PMD-VK Gorakhpur and facilitate the distribution of need-based...
MDL CSR Support to Divyasha Vayoshri Kendra
MDL Extends ₹3.79 Crore CSR Support to Divyasha Vayoshri Kendra in Mumbai
The initiative will strengthen access to assistive devices, prosthetics and rehabilitation services for...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Indian Electoral Rolls SIR ECI Voters
Clean Voter Lists, Also Ensure No Genuine Voter Is Left Out 
Gaganyaan Separation Tests
Why ISRO’s Latest Separation Test is One of the Most Important Test for India’s First Human Spaceflight
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Dr Saket Badola IFS
PK Jena
PK Jena
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT