Kin of missing kids hope ‘Muskan’ makes them smile

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 1

A total of 106 minors went missing from the city this year till June of whom only 82 were reunited with their families while 24 minors are still untraced. Their parents now have high hopes from the Chandigarh Police, who today kicked off a month-long operation, “Muskan”, to reunite the children with their families.

Statistics of the past six months reveal that a large number of minors go missing from the city every month. While many of them return themselves, several are traced by the police.

A large number of minors, of whom a majority are girls, are yet to be traced.

Pushpinder (16), a resident of Kaimbwala village, said her 12-year-old sister, Arti, went missing on April 29 from near her house and was still untraceable. “My parents tried to search for her on their own, but failed to locate her. We also complained to the police, but they also could not trace my sister,” he said.

Pushpinder said now that the police had initiated such a campaign, he hoped that his sister was traced.

Tota Ram, a vegetable vendor and resident of Faidan, whose 15-year-old sister went missing on April 16, has lost all hopes of reuniting with his sister. “If the UT police have initiated a special campaign, I wish my sister gets traced,” said Tota Ram, the only breadwinner of his family.

Urvija Goel, Superintendent of Police (SP), Headquarters, said 20 teams, comprising two police personnel each, had been constituted, which would visit neighbouring states — Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan — to locate missing children. “The focus will not only be on rescuing children missing from Chandigarh. Any minor who is found at places such as bus stands, railway stations and markets will be counselled and reunited with his or her parents irrespective of the state to which he or she belongs,” the SP said.