Bengaluru: Over 500 children who were allegedly engaged in labour at various establishments in the city were rescued on Saturday during a special drive to prevent child labour, police said.

The special drives were conducted by teams of 12 divison of the Bengaluru Police following the directions of City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh, they said.

Following the drive, 18 cases were registered against shop owners for engaging children at their respective establishments, police said.

The objective of the drive was to prevent child labour and identify and rescue children engaged in labour.

According to police, 63 children were rescued from Central, 54 from South, 84 from West, 62 from North, 17 from Southwest, 14 from Northwest, 71 from East, 55 from Northeast, 13 from Southeast, 3 from Electronic City, 22 from Whitefield and 45 from Central Crime Branch jurisdiction limits.

According to the police, teams headed by officers comprising labour inspectors were formed to check all godowns, marketplaces, hotels, lodges, bakeries, bus stops, railway stations, apartments, construction sites etc in all police station limits of the city.

"A total of 5,897 premises were checked and 503 children engaged in labour were rescued," the office of Bengaluru Commissioner of Police said in a statement.

During the special operation conducted across all divisions of Bengaluru, a total of 18 cases were registered against shop owners under the provisions of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) and the Juvenile Justice Act, it said.

Further investigation is in progress, police added. PTI