After decade, Haryana Police reunite 16-year-old with parents in Rajasthan

Anti-human trafficking unit of Haryana Police painstakingly coordinated with Rajasthan police to bring back teenager

The anti-human trafficking unit of Haryana Police on Wednesday reunited a 16-year-old boy with his family in Rajasthan, a decade after he went missing from his village in Sirohi district.

The anti-human trafficking unit of Haryana Police on Wednesday reunited a 16-year-old boy with his family in Rajasthan, a decade after he went missing from his village in Sirohi district. (Representational image)

In a testament to its painstaking efforts and the coordination between units combating human trafficking, a Haryana Police spokesperson said the AHTU’s Panchkula unit had recently contacted the welfare officer at the children’s home at Rajpura in Patiala district as part of its routine enquiry to ascertain if they had any missing children from Haryana.

The welfare officer said they didn’t have any child from Haryana, but they had teenager unable to locate his family. During counselling, the child told the unit members his name, parent’s name and that he was a resident of Samastipur in Bihar. The police contacted the family at the address the child mentioned. However, it turned out that the child did not belong to them.

During further counselling, the word Dalghar kept cropping up. Using Dalghar as the basis for an internet search, it led to information about six villages. “Contact was made with all the states, and it was discovered that Dalghar was located in Sirohi district of Rajasthan,” the spokesperson said. “The child’s photo was sent to the village, and the father recognised his son. A video call was conducted. The father, Shankar Lal, shared that his son had gone missing from their village in 2013 when he was only six. By the order of the Child Welfare Committee, Amritsar, the minor was handed over to family after formalities were completed,” the spokesperson said.

In another instance, the chairperson of the CWC, Shimla, informed the AHTU Panchkula unit via email that they had two children, aged 11 and 8, who seemed to have a connection with Haryana based on their language.

The AHTU gathered information about the children and conducted counselling sessions over phone. During the counselling, the 11-year-old child seemed familiar with the dialect spoken in Jind.

The police in Jind were contacted and the child’s family was traced to Bhiwani Road in Jind. An identification exercise that included video calling with the family followed.

Another eight-year-old child, who had reached Shimla by train in April-end, was reunited with his family traced in Kalka, the spokesperson said.