15 children missing from shelter home

Fifteen children have gone missing from a protection home in Connaught Place area in the last one year. The children were in the age group of 9-16 years.

Fifteen children have gone missing from a protection home in Connaught Place area in the last one year. The children were in the age group of 9-16 years.

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Though the incidents were reported over the last year, police have registered a case of kidnapping only a fortnight ago. Last year Delhi Police had reported 2,503 cases of missing children from the city.

On Saturday, police chief Y.S. Dadwal reviewed the cases of city's missing children and directed his officers to conduct a door to door survey to help the aggrieved parents.

On March 3, seven cases of kidnapping were registered at the Barakhamba police station. Police said they were investigating whether these children, some of them from Bihar, were abducted from the protection home.

The incident was reported from Bal Sahyog, a shelter home for children in need of care and protection under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.

Five children identified as Anil (14), Antaf Khan (10), Nazir Khan (11), Zakir (14), Rakesh (9) went missing between January 14 and July 22 last year.

In February 2008, other five children identified as Krishna (12), Rajesh (16), Raju (15), Raju (13) and Bijender went missing. Ten-year-old Bablu Mishra went missing on January 17, 2008.

“We had received complaints about the missing children. We studied the pattern and converted the missing complaints into FIRs. We fear these children might have been kidnapped,” said a senior police officer.

On March 29 Delhi Police has to submit a report to the Delhi High Court pertaining to cases of missing children in the city.