Facial recognition, CCTV analysis help cops trace missing Goregaon teen from Rajasthan

According to police, on December 6, the boy’s father, Pradeep K (38), a driver working at Film City in Goregaon, found his son chatting with friends on Instagram despite being barred from installing the app on the phone. The father confronted him and an argument followed.

Upset after being reprimanded, the teenager left the house later that day. A few hours later, his younger brother informed the family that the 14 year old had also stepped out and had not returned. When the family checked his belongings, they found a note in a book stating that he was leaving home.

The family then approached the Dindoshi police station where a kidnapping case was registered, as missing cases involving minors are treated as abduction under the law. Crime Branch Unit XII also began a parallel investigation.
During the probe, officers used the Western Railway’s facial recognition system and confirmed that the boy had boarded a train from Goregaon and travelled to CSMT. However, investigators initially failed to find further clues and the trail went cold.

Nearly three months later, frustrated by the lack of progress, the boy’s father approached Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti seeking help. On March 3, Bharti directed the Crime Branch to take over the probe and expedite the search.

After reopening the investigation, Crime Branch officers began examining CCTV footage from CSMT and surrounding areas. “We saw that the boy had been loitering around the station till December 9. On that day, CCTV footage showed three men had approached the boy and is later seen going with them in a train,” an officer said.

Investigators then launched a technical analysis of mobile phone activity around the station during that period. After scanning hundreds of phone numbers, police were able to identify and trace three labour contractors Mahendra Kashyap, Kasim Khan and Sanjay Sancheti, all in their early forties.

The trio was tracked down to Surat last week and questioned by the police team. “While initially they claimed to know nothing about the boy, when we showed them the CCTV footage, they confessed that they had taken the boy to Sirohi town in Rajasthan,” the officer said.

The police team then travelled to Sirohi where the boy was located at a Jain Derasar where he had been working as a food server. Police said the boy was provided lodging and meals but was not paid for the work he performed.
“While he was given lodging and food, the money was taken by the accused,” the officer said.

Investigators said the accused typically scout for people seeking work around major railway stations such as CSMT and Churchgate and recruit them for temporary jobs at religious establishments.

The boy was rescued and reunited with his parents last Tuesday. The three accused were later handed over to the Dindoshi police station, which formally arrested them.

During further investigation, police checked the labour contractors’ office in Sion Koliwada and found that the boy’s name had not been entered in the register maintained for workers sent for employment.

“We are checking if the accused have trafficked any minors in the past as well,” the officer said.

The accused were produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.