Citing ‘interstate’ links, Jharkhand High Court hands 2020 missing girl’s case to CBI

The court noted that despite more than five and a half years having elapsed, no progress had been made in tracing the missing girl, and even drew reference to another similar case from Bokaro where improper investigation led to the murder of a missing child.

Girl missing since 2020, still untraced

The case concerns a minor girl aged about 14 years, who went missing from Bokaro, Jharkhand, on October 16, 2020. She had left home around 10.45 am to attend tuition classes but never returned. Shortly afterwards, her bicycle, slippers and notebooks were found scattered on the road, raising concerns that she had been abducted.

Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Sanjay Prasad noted that the CID investigation failed to yield any concrete clue about the missing minor.

Her father lodged an FIR the same day. Despite repeated efforts by the family and the passage of over five years, the district police failed to trace her. The mother, hence, approached the high court with a habeas corpus plea and directions for her daughter’s recovery. A habeas corpus petition requires a person under arrest or in detention to be brought before a judge so the court can decide if the detention is legal.

The petitioner said she learnt about the remedy of filing a habeas corpus petition only recently, after coming across another case involving a missing girl from the same police station, which prompted her to file the present petition before the court.

She stated that she repeatedly approached various authorities, including the superintendent of police (SP), Bokaro, and the officer-in-charge of the local police station through written applications on several occasions, but to no avail.

She said she had also submitted representations to the President of India and the Chief Minister and Governor of Jharkhand, highlighting the inaction and apathy of the local authorities. Yet, no concrete steps have been taken to trace and recover her daughter, she claimed.

During the proceedings in May, the state informed the court that the case was transferred to the CID on April 20, which constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT). However, the court found little substantial progress. The investigation later indicated possible interstate trafficking, with digital activity traced to Delhi, Telangana and West Bengal. The state also acknowledged limitations in accessing advanced forensic technology and digital records.

CID probe failed to trace girl: Court

The high court noted that the CID investigation and SIT’s efforts failed to yield any concrete clue about the missing minor. It observed that the investigation had disclosed interstate dimensions and possible trafficking, with digital activity traced to Delhi, Telangana and West Bengal.

The court noted the state’s admission that advanced forensic tools such as gait analysis were unavailable in Jharkhand, while the case required sophisticated technical and forensic resources.

It observed that the investigation involved cross-state and potentially cross-border digital trails, including the need to obtain information from foreign entities such as Meta and Google, making the involvement of a central agency necessary.

Considering the minor’s prolonged disappearance, the complexity of the investigation and the need for specialised resources, the court concluded that the investigation should be entrusted to the CBI to facilitate efforts to trace and recover the missing girl.