A squad that goes all out to look, trace, bring back your loved one

The missing persons' detection squad of the Mumbai police has an impeccable record of tracing and reuniting runaway minors and lost elderly persons with their families. With a robust system in place, the squad locates 90% of all people reported missing daily, including 93% of missing minors and 87% of missing adults in 2023. The squad consists of one or two officers connected through WhatsApp groups and other means, who work tirelessly to find missing persons and ensure their safe return. They employ various methods, including talking to the family, circulating pictures, and tracking mobile phones and social media accounts. The squad also receives assistance from local citizens and volunteers, such as paper boys and food stall owners. In cases involving minors, specific guidelines are followed under "Operation Muskan" to ensure their safety. The squad's dedication and prompt action have earned them praise from the joint commissioner of police.

Strap: From employing the informers to going undercover, officers with missing persons’ detection squads do whatever it takes to find lost elderly persons and runaway minors every day

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When you are in distress, they exhort you to hang in there. When you lose hope, they stand with you in high spirits. When the worst fear drives you crazy and you start blabbering, they stay calm and hear you out.

Finally, when you thank them for performing a miracle, they call it their job.

Welcome to the missing persons’ detection squad of the Mumbai police who successfully tracks down your loved ones in this bustling metropolis every day and brings the smile back on your face. And they have an impeccable record when it comes to tracing runaway minors and reuniting them with their families.

To be sure, each of the 91 police stations in the city has a squad consisting of one or two officers, who are connected through WhatsApp groups and other means. The system in place, in fact, is so robust that they locate 90% of all the people reported missing daily, data has found. In 2023, for example, 93% of the missing minors and 87% of the missing adults were traced.

“The prompt action and quick wit of these officers in challenging situations and our machinery at the police station ensure that the rate of tracing missing persons remains high. We make extra efforts in case of vulnerable persons such as minors or elderly persons with dementia,” he said.

The first task in a missing case is to start talking to the family even before an FIR is registered, a detection officer said, adding there is a set of standard questions to understand the psyche of the person being searched for. These questions look for answers on the missing person’s background, the family dynamics, possibility of kidnapping for ransom, and checking if any valuables from their home, or personal identity documents are missing.

“Pictures of the missing person are then circulated on police WhatsApp groups having missing persons’ detection officers from across the state and the railway police as members. After the FIR is registered, the picture and description of the person is also circulated on local citizens’ groups and among volunteers,” the officer said.

In the case of minors, guidelines are laid down under “Operation Muskan”, a project of the ministry of home affairs launched in 2014. A Supreme Court directive in 2012 orders the police to register an offence under section 363 (kidnapping of a minor) of the Indian Penal Code when parents or guardians report a child missing.

The helpers here are people like paper boys, food stall owners, auto and taxi drivers, who act as the eyes and ears of the squad. Police officers regularly train them in identifying a person in distress from their body language and other signs.

“Unaccompanied minors are to be handed over to us mandatorily. In most such cases, children leave home after a fight with their parents. They usually go looking for food to stalls near railway stations, malls or other public places,” the detection officer said. Common reasons for fights are over studies, overuse of mobile phone/social media, and poor scores, he added.

Children, especially girls, from lower socio-economic backgrounds are often lured by grown-up men who take advantage of their family situations. They promise them love, marriage or a better life, but the girls end up victims of sexual assault, trafficking or flesh trade, police officers said.

For adults, depression or mental illnesses like dementia, bad loans and relationship issues work as the trigger. Elderly citizens also escape bad family situations and abuse, even if it means they will have to live on the streets, said another detection officer.

Explaining the steps, he said, “We go around malls, hospitals, railway stations and other places. We track their mobile phone and social media accounts, and even track their frequently contacted numbers or go looking at their last known location for clues. We also trace their footsteps through CCTV footage.”

However, not everyone is forthcoming.

An officer from a police station in Andheri spoke about resistance from local shopkeepers in sharing CCTV footage when they were looking for an elderly person. It took the intervention of a local corporator to get the necessary help.

Officers also need to go undercover sometimes.

A policewoman, who has been in the squad for two years now and who has many successful detections to her credit, recalls a case where she had to go house-to-house in civil clothes for days to locate one girl.

“She was a 17-year-old from an orphanage, who eloped to marry a 41-year-old man. She had no phone, but we tracked the man’s social media usage. He had uploaded a picture of visiting a particular temple which gave us a clue about their location being his hometown,” she said.

The police then circulated her picture among local auto drivers and got to know that she was living in a rented house. Locals also told the police that the man was already married and had children not much younger than the girl. “For the next 15 days, I would dress up like a domestic worker, go to each house in the area and show their pictures to the residents. We found her 20 days after she was reported missing,” the officer said.

As the girl was a minor, she was produced before the child welfare committee, underwent medical tests to rule out physical or mental trauma. She was then transferred to a woman’s shelter and the female officer still keeps in touch with the girl.

“She was not very confident earlier. Over time, she has developed into a bold person,” she said. This same officer also traced a 14-year-old girl who had gone to Gujarat to meet a 21-year-old man she had met on social media.

While counselling is mandatory for rescued children, it is not the case for adults. Police officers turn counsellors in situations like family disputes, heartbreaks or financial troubles. In the case of the elderly person with no mental health issues, they explain to them and the family the provisions of various laws governing the welfare of senior citizens.

Officers who have worked on cases related to runaway children said it all comes down to parents not having good communication with their wards.

“Today’s kids grow up and mature much faster. Parents need to befriend them, and ensure the children have complete confidence in them. Scolding them or putting too much pressure on them doesn’t help,” a police officer said. Another suggested that telling children to improve academic performance can be done in a non-confrontational manner.

An elderly man’s story

Sharad Namdeo Jadhav, 76, from Kharghar left his residence on the night of January 1. His son, Shekhar, who was attending a work call, realised that his father who had dementia was missing from home around 9.30 pm. After hours of looking in their neighbourhood, calling friends and family, the family decided to search for him in Mumbai where Jadhav senior lived and worked in his younger days.

The next morning, Shekhar started visiting the police stations in several areas. When he reached Marine Drive police station, the duty officer told him about a note left by the night staff about one ‘Mr Jadhav’.

“The police had found him alone and confused, trying to hail a taxi to Kolhapur late the earlier night. They noted down his name, helped him get a taxi up to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. The duty officer then made some calls, gave out my father’s description and pictures on WhatsApp groups. In four hours, they searched across CST, Marine Lines, NCPA, Nariman Point and Vidhan Bhawan and eventually found my father,” Shekhar said.