Coordinated ops, tech help cops trace 931 missing persons this year

A series of coordinated operations, blending technology with ground-level investigations, has helped the Delhi Police trace 931 missing persons this year, including 306 minor children, under the Operation Milap.

One such case unfolded on January 21 this year when a 30-year-old woman living at the New Delhi railway station reported her four-month-old daughter missing. Originally from Bihar, the woman sold pen for a living and stayed at the station with her two daughters after the death of her husband.

CCTV footage later showed another woman abducting the infant. Investigators soon identified the suspect as 35-year-old Aarti from Faridabad, already linked to an earlier kidnapping at the same station.

Aarti and her husband, Suraj, were arrested on January 30. During interrogation, she admitted working with Priya, a nurse, and Nirmala, a document forger, in an organised child trafficking racket.

The group allegedly abducted and sold children to childless couples under the pretext of illegal adoption, charging between Rs 50,000 and Rs 4 lakh per child depending on gender. Two children were rescued, and a wider network of buyers and suppliers was exposed.

The South-West District Police reported reuniting 130 missing individuals, including 48 children and 82 adults, with their families during the month of August alone.

Among them was a 17-year-old girl who went missing from Sagarpur in Southwest Delhi on July 1. A 36-hour operation, relying on CCTV footage, bank transactions and social media monitoring, led the police to Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.

She was found with 23-year-old Aman Yadav, who had lured her via social media. Yadav was arrested for wrongful confinement.

In another case, a 13-year-old girl from Uttam Nagar disappeared on May 13. Despite initial setbacks, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) conducted extensive searches, reviewed CCTV footage and monitored phone records. She was found the next day at Uttam Nagar terminal and returned to her family after counselling.

According to the police, tracing missing children involves multiple steps - registering an FIR, circulating details across databases like ZipNet and TrackChild, alerting child care homes and NGOs, and activating secret informer networks. Police teams also check bus stands, railway stations, markets and nearby public areas.

Technology such as CCTV surveillance, call detail records, mobile location tracking and even bank withdrawals or social media activity play a crucial role. Inter-agency coordination with the Railway Police, Childline and state forces often leads to swift recoveries.

However, a worrying pattern continues to emerge. Police data shows that girls form a majority of the missing children in Delhi. In 2025, they accounted for 74.59 per cent of reported cases, up from 71.82 per cent in 2024. The gender disparity, nearly equal a decade ago, has steadily widened since 2020.