7,800 reported missing in Delhi this year, ZIPNET yields mixed results

Delhi police’s Zonal Integrated Police Network, the ZIPNET system, designed for faster crime-solving, is helping solve missing persons’ cases but not so much.

On July 4, a decomposed body discovered in Outer North Delhi’s Bawana without any identity proof had been traced to a missing person from Samyapur Badli using the ZIPNET network. The man had been missing since June 4. Likewise in January this year, an unidentified body was discovered near Sabzi Mandi Railway station in North Delhi without identity proof. This too had been traced as a missing person using ZIPNET.

Despite such breakthroughs, ZIPNET data from 2025 reveals that so far, 7,880 persons reported missing in Delhi were yet to be traced.

But not all cases are being cracked by the network where eight member states — Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh — are sharing statistics on crime, criminals and missing people.

Outer North District has the highest number of such missing individuals.

Out of the total missing persons, 4,753 are women and 3,133 are men, the data added.

The Outer North district reported 908 untraced cases, the most among all districts. In contrast, the New Delhi district, which comprises high-security areas such as Tilak Marg, Chanakyapuri, and Parliament Street, recorded the fewest untraced persons at 85, the data mentioned.

The North East district had the second-highest number of untraced cases at 730, followed by South West (717), South East (689), and Outer district (675). Other districts reported the following numbers: Dwarka (644), North West (636), East (577), and Rohini (452). In the Central district, 363 individuals are still missing, while the North, South, and Shahdara districts had 348, 215, and 201 cases, respectively.

During the same period, 1,486 unidentified bodies were found across the city, most of them male.

The North district reported the highest number of unidentified bodies at 352, particularly from areas like Kotwali, Sabzi Mandi, and Civil Lines.

Other districts recorded the following number of unidentified bodies — Central (113), North West (93), South East (83), South West and North East (73 each), Outer (65), East and New Delhi (55 each), West and Outer North (54 each), Rohini (44), Shahdara (42), Dwarka (35), South (26), and the Railway zone (23). The lowest number was reported at IGI Airport, with just one unidentified body.

Recently, the Delhi Police launched an upgraded version of the ZIPNET website to improve user experience and accessibility. Previously, the police relied on a manual system — recording details in physical registers and distributing printed notices through memos, circulars, and public notice boards.