Trace within a month man reported missing for 4 yrs: HC

The Allahabad High Court on Friday directed concerned authorities to trace out within one month a resident of Sant Ravidas Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh who has been reported missing for nearly four years.

The Allahabad High Court on Friday directed concerned authorities to trace out within one month a resident of Sant Ravidas Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh who has been reported missing for nearly four years.

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The order was passed by Justice Ravindra Singh on an application filed by Rang Bahadur whose son Manoj Kumar Singh had gone missing on March 31, 2006.

Passing the order in presence of Director General of Police Karamveer Singh, who was summoned in this case, the court also directed the Investigating Officer to appear in person with the progress report on the next date of hearing on February 15.

The court also asked the DGP to take steps towards developing a mechanism "so that in cases of abduction or kidnapping, the victim may be found as soon as possible".

The applicant had challenged a lower court order which had accepted a final report filed by police on the FIR lodged in connection with the disappearance of 30-year-old Singh.

He had contended that initially police had declined to lodge an FIR on the basis of his complaint in which he had accused a number of persons in his neighbourhood of having kidnapped his son.

An FIR was lodged only on January 13, 2007 following a court order and the final report was filed the very same day allegedly without conducting an investigation.

The lower court rejected the final report in 2007 but accepted the second final report filed by police in 2008 notwithstanding protests by the applicant.