Incentives for finding missing kids pays off

Daily recovery and rescue of missing children in Delhi almost tripled between August 6 and 28, compared to the rest of the year.

Daily recovery and rescue of missing children in Delhi almost tripled between August 6 and 28, compared to the rest of the year, after the Delhi Police announced quick promotions to constables and head constables for finding at least 50 missing children aged below 14 in a year.

According to data provided by the Delhi Police, recoveries per day between January 1 and August 6 was six, which went up to 17, between August 7 and 28. (File photo for representation)

According to data provided by the Delhi Police, recoveries per day between January 1 and August 6 was six, which went up to 17, between August 7 and 28. The promotion order was issued on August 6.

A crime branch officer, who did not wish to be named, said, “There is a competition among the men and women in our force to find missing children now. It has suddenly become a top priority for them. Even we did not expect such quick results.”

According to a report by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) released last year, 17 children go missing every day in Delhi and at least two of them remain untraced. As per police statistics, at least 6,366 children went missing in 2019 from across the city, of whom police traced 4,311.

Special stress was laid on finding children aged 14 or below since many of them fall prey to traffickers, said police officers.

2473 children were reported missing till August 28 this year, of whom 1752 have been found/rescued.

In the last month, police rescued missing children from roads, outside temples, gurdwaras, hospitals and railway station. The police have also solved cases of children who were trafficked from places such as Assam, Agra and Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

Explaining the success of the initiative, another senior officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said personnel posted in police control room van duty, who are otherwise not duty-bound to probe missing cases and are only the first responders to distress calls on the roads, found at least 20 missing children and reunited them with their families.

Explaining how constables and head constables are finding missing children, a constable from the crime branch’s anti-human trafficking unit, said, “I was part of a case in which a 14-year-old boy was reported missing in Jaitpur, south-east Delhi. A kidnapping case was registered but all these years there was no clue. We reopened the case, took out the boy’s photographs and showed it to people at railway stations, hospitals and night shelters. We found him on the evening of August 22 outside the Bangla Saheb Gurdwara. He had been kidnapped by a local drug dealer and was forced to sell drugs. The child has been reunited with his family.”

Another officer, who is part of the police control room van unit, said they have started using loudspeakers to make announcements, the minute we receive the report about a missing child.

“On August 27, our men in PCR van found a 3-year-old child crying near the Gandhi Nagar market in east Delhi. Now that our focus is on finding such children, we used the van loudspeaker to announce details of the child. Other police personnel in PCR vans, who heard us also started doing this in their areas. Within a few hours, a woman in Seelampur heard the announcement made from one such PCR van and told them about her missing daughter. The girl was then reunited with her family.”

Retired Delhi police officer Amod Kanth, who also runs Prayas — an NGO for children, said, “ I am glad the police are focusing on finding missing children. Incentives always work. This is an issue that needed to be tackled seriously long ago. The results indicate that police are also digging old files and tracing those children. I am sure that the results will improve with each passing month. “

Kanth was earlier the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights and also worked as director general of Arunachal Pradesh police.