New Delhi, Nov 17: A special drive launched by Delhi Police in all police districts here this year till October 30 helped trace 2,629 missing children, including 1,440 in the last around three months, and reunite them with their family members.
From January 1 to October 31, as many as 3,507 children were reported missing.
So, the police personnel in Delhi have been successful in tracing around 75 per cent of the missing children so far this year.
Special efforts put in by teams set up for the purpose at all police stations yielded such positive results, a senior police officer said.
Interestingly, only 1,222 children were reported missing in the last around three months till October 31.
Commissioner of Police SN Shrivastava had in his interactions with senior officers focused on tracing of missing children and reuniting them with their families.
Delhi Police’s Standing Orders clearly stipulate the procedure to be followed on receipt of information about missing children or persons.
In order to encourage police personnel to trace missing children without any delay and to amplify recoveries, on August 7 last, Shrivastava had granted additional incentives, including out-of-turn promotions for constables and head constables who recovered 50 or more missing children below the age of 14 within 12 calendar months and ‘Asadharan Karya Puraskar’ for them if they traced 15 or more missing children below 14 years.
According to the data, in 2019, as many as 3,336 children were traced out of 5,412 reporting missing, a 62 per cent success rate.
“After the announcement of the special incentives by the Commissioner of Police, from August 7 to October 31, 1,222 children were reported missing but 1,440 were traced. These include previously missing children as well,” said Eish Singhal, PRO, Delhi Police.
In one instance, a ‘divyang’ child aged six lodged in Sanskar Ashram in Dilshad Garden was reunited with his family in Bihar.
The child had gone missing in 2017.
The photo of the child was sent through WhatsApp and the family recognised the child as their own. (IANS)
