Thane police organise three-day camp for missing persons’ families

The Thane Rural Police are reaching out to the families of missing persons by holding a three-day camp at Uttan in Thane district, starting from Friday.

The Thane Rural Police are reaching out to the families of missing persons by holding a three-day camp at Uttan in Thane district, starting from Friday.

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Photographs of unidentified dead bodies found in past three years, the clothes last worn by the person and other belongings will be displayed at the camp, which is to be held at St Joseph High School from 10am to 6pm.

A brainchild of superintendent of police Vishwas Nangre-Patil, the camp is the first one to be held in the Mumbai-Thane belt. A similar camp was held in Pune rural about six years ago.

“Thane district is the worst affected when it comes to unclaimed and unidentified bodies. So, we are displaying 1,500 photographs and belongings of people who were killed or died in accidents,” said Nangre-Patil, adding that there are 408 unclaimed dead bodies in the district.

Thane rural police have registered 5,579 missing persons cases in the past three years. Of these, 3,544 persons were found. The police hope that the camp will be of some help to the families of the remaining 2,035 persons.

“We have called around 5,000 people, including police patils of the village, Tanta Mukti Samiti members, village defence parties, and representatives of local bodies from Thane, Mumbai, and nearby districts,” said Nangre-Patil.

He added, “Every year there are at least 20-25 undetected cases as it is difficult to solve a case without identifying the deceased. Our main aim is to reduce the number of pending cases and also to help families know about their missing relatives and complete the remaining formalities.”

State home minister RR Patil is also expected to visit the camp.