140 gone missing in 2014 still untraced

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 1

It has been almost six-months since 16-year-old Renu went missing, she had gone to school, but never returned. Her father, Girdhar Lal, a labourer working in the Industrial Area, is still hoping that the police will trace his daughter and bring her home.

“I have been trying to search for my daughter and making repeated rounds of the police station, but there is no trace of my daughter,” said Girdhar Lal, whose daughter’s missing report has been lodged at the Industrial Area police station. She went missing on September 9, 2014. Renu’s case is not the only one.
Police records reveal that there are around 140 such missing cases including that of adults, besides the children who went missing in 2014, but have not been raced so far. Meanwhile, 183 cases of kidnapping were registered during the year out of which 40 are yet to be worked out. In a city which has witnessed the gory murder and kidnapping case of a five-year-old Khushpreet in 2010, the rising number of missing children is alarming. The police had initially lodged a missing report in this case and took the case very lightly and their negligence cost the boy his life, as he was found murdered after 15 days.
As per the records of the Chandigarh Police, most of the missing children belong to the economically weaker sections of society. According to the families of the missing persons one of the reasons why many remain untraced is because of the apathy of the law enforcement agencies.
Amrinder Pal Singh, founder CEO of Salam Zindagi, an NGO, working to re-unite missing children with their families said that a majority of the minors between 10 and 18 years of age are run away cases.They leave home as there is pressure on them to study. “I feel that once a missing case is reported, the police should swiftly act in the initial 24 hours and launch a hunt to trace the children.This can certainly improve the recovery rate”, he said.
Sukhchain Singh Gill, SSP, Chandigarh, said all the police station in charge had been directed to lodge a case immediately on getting a complaint.
Police officials said that the Police Department in the neighbouring states were also immediately informed once a kidnapping or missing case was registered.