‘Mission Reunite’: Mumbai cops trace 487 missing children within six weeks

Mumbai police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar launched the mission after a 16-year-old girl from Andheri, missing for the past nine years, was reunited with her family. It turned out her kidnappers had kept her confined in their residence which was less than a kilometre away from her parents’ house.

A police official said as part of the programme, 135 girls and 68 boys, who were reported missing, were traced. Besides, 154 boys and 122 girls, who were not reported missing but found without any guardian, were also reunited with their families. Further, eight underage boys, who were found working, were also reunited with their families.

A senior police official said in majority of these cases, children missing from one part of the city were found in another part.

“Only in some instances did we have to go out of the state. In most cases these were children living on roads or in cramped houses after they fled from home or were abandoned. Parents were counselled and the kids were handed over to them,” the official added.