Gujarat Police trace 701 missing persons in two weeks under ‘Operation Milaap’

Gandhinagar, May 21 (IANS) Gujarat Police have traced 701 missing persons within a span of two weeks under ‘Operation Milaap’, a statewide drive aimed at locating individuals reported missing since 2007 and reuniting them with their families, officials said on Thursday.

The operation, conducted between May 7 and May 21, has been described by Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi as a coordinated effort supported by strengthened policing resources.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the results reflected the structured implementation of the campaign across the state.

“Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat Police has undertaken a special campaign to trace missing persons. All necessary resources have been made available for this purpose. The success of the campaign is that 701 persons were traced across the state between May 7 and May 21 and reunited with their families,” he added.

The initiative has been launched under the instructions of Gujarat Director General of Police K.L.N. Rao, with instructions issued to all Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to reopen long-pending missing person cases, reassess evidence, and intensify field-level investigations using both traditional and technical inputs.

According to official data, more than 24,767 missing person cases have been registered in the state since 2007.

As part of ‘Operation Milaap’, police teams are re-examining old records, reviewing digital and forensic material, and reconnecting with complainants and families who have continued to search for their relatives over the years.

Additional Director General of Police of CID Crime and Railways (Women Cell), Ajay Chaudhary, said the operation relies on a structured and intelligence-led approach.

“This operation has been launched in a planned manner. Missing persons are being traced on the basis of data, technical intelligence and human intelligence. Officers have been given clear guidelines, and due to these coordinated efforts, we are successfully tracing persons missing for years,” he added.

Of the 701 individuals traced during the two-week period, 19 were minor boys, 97 minor girls, 417 women and 168 men.

Police officials said the process of tracing missing persons would continue as part of an ongoing statewide exercise.

Authorities have also noted that during investigations, some cases have revealed links to broader criminal issues, including human trafficking and child trafficking networks, which are being examined as part of parallel inquiries where relevant.

One case resolved under the operation involved a 23-year-old woman from Padra taluka in Vadodara district who went missing in 2016 along with her five-year-old son.

Her husband had initially told police that she had left for her parental home and did not return.

When the case was reopened under the operation, investigators re-contacted the family and reviewed available leads.

The husband later told the police that he had seen his wife on social media a few months earlier.

Acting on this information, police traced her online activity and found she was living in Rajkot with her second husband and running a garba class.

The son, who had been missing since childhood, is now 15-years-old.

Police said preliminary findings indicated that the woman had left her earlier marital home due to family disputes and subsequently remarried in 2016.

Officials said such cases often reflect complex personal circumstances behind disappearances, including domestic disputes, relationship breakdowns, financial difficulties, and other social factors.

As part of the broader initiative, Gujarat Police has issued a 15-point Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to all police stations to standardise investigations.

The SOP includes reopening case files, re-interviewing complainants, analysing digital and technical evidence, tracking social media activity, and inspecting transport hubs, shelters and public locations.

It also instructs officers to monitor missing persons’ mobile phones where possible, trace last known locations, and examine activity on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Investigators have additionally been directed to review hospital mortuary records for unidentified bodies, match them with missing persons’ data, and question suspects previously arrested in kidnapping and trafficking-related cases.

Officials said the operation combines data analysis, technical surveillance and field investigation, and is expected to continue in the coming weeks as part of sustained efforts to resolve long-pending missing person cases across Gujarat.

–IANS

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