A missing persons Facebook page run by Delhi Police officer and his relentless efforts to trace missing people – often in his own time and beyond his official duties and jurisdiction – helped a 31-year-old specially abled man reunite with his family more than 100 days after he went missing from his village in Karnataka.
Ajay Kumar Jha, a 47-year-old assistant sub-inspector (ASI), launched a Facebook page “Mission Milap” three years ago to trace missing people, particularly those with disabilities.
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‘Mission Milap’ helps trace over 450 missing people
Jha, who is also the father of a person with special needs, told HT that he has helped reunite more than 450 missing children, men and women with their families over the past three years. His efforts, he said, have largely involved scanning social media, checking shelter homes and their websites, and contacting police stations.
“Being the father of an 18-year-old special child whom I had nearly lost twice between 2018 and 2021, I know the pain of parents whose loved ones go missing. Finding missing people, particularly the specially abled, became my mission,” said Jha, is currently posted with Delhi Police’s anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU).
{{/usCountry}}“Being the father of an 18-year-old special child whom I had nearly lost twice between 2018 and 2021, I know the pain of parents whose loved ones go missing. Finding missing people, particularly the specially abled, became my mission,” said Jha, is currently posted with Delhi Police’s anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU).
{{/usCountry}}The latest case, however, begins on May 1, when the family of 31-year-old Shankarappa Narasappa Bichchal posted information and photographs, reporting about his disappearance from their village in Kalaburagi on Jha’s Facebook page, special CP (crime) HGS Dhaliwal said.
The Mudhol police station in Kalaburagi registered a missing person case on May 10.
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Cop searches beyond Delhi to trace missing Karnataka man
“Even though the case was not registered in Delhi, Jha went beyond its territorial jurisdiction to find Shankarappa,” Dhaliwal said. Jha shared Shankarappa’s details on multiple social media groups with members from shelter homes and law enforcement agencies. He also contacted shelter homes, ashrams, and religious institutions for information about Shankarappa.
After nearly three-and-a-half months of looking, the breakthrough finally came in mid-August, when Jha and other AHTU officials found Shankarappa’s details on the website of Apna Ghar Ashram, said DCP (crime) Chandra Kumar Singh.
Language barrier made it difficult to trace family
“The shelter home confirmed that Shankarappa had been staying there after the Railway Protection Force officials found him wandering near the Varanasi Cantt railway station on July 1,” Singh said. Shankarappa’s mental condition, coupled with the fact that he spoke only Kannada, made it difficult for officials in the Hindi-speaking region to trace his family, except for his name and home state, ACP (AHTU) Suresh Kumar said.
After verifying the details, Jha contacted Shankarappa’s family on August 20 and arranged a video call involving his brother, Narayanappa, who identified his brother and broke down. Shankarappa was handed over to his family on August 23, Jha said.
Shankarappa had left home with a keypad phone for a local temple on May 1 and disappeared. His last location was in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar.
“We had almost lost hope until Jha called us. For us, Jha came as God. We have saved his name as ‘God’ in our phone’s contact list,” Narayanappa said.
Jha said “Mission Milap”, which now has 600 members, has helped reunite over 450 missing people.