Beijing, Jan 15 (IANS) As many as 1,332 children belonging to China’s Xinjiang region who were lured by criminal gangs to larger cities and forced into petty crimes like stealing have been tracked down and rescued, officials said Sunday.

Most of the children are between the ages of 10 and 18. They were taken away by the gangs to other parts of the country, a civil affairs department official in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region told Xinhua.

The Xinjiang administration launched a campaign in April 2011 to locate and return all of the region’s children.

Some of the rescued children were returned to their homes, while others have been temporarily placed in government-run shelters where they will receive vocational training, officials said.

Children found to be suffering from injuries or diseases were sent to hospitals.

The government is also building a children’s centre at a cost of 50 million yuan (around $8 million).