RANCHI: Expressing dissatisfaction over the police’s inability to trace a girl missing since 2018, the Jharkhand High Court has issued a final warning to the state government, stating that if no concrete progress is observed in the investigation within two weeks, the case will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
During a hearing on Monday, the Court made it clear that continued inaction would prompt a transfer of the case to the central agency.
Earlier, while hearing the case, the Jharkhand High Court had asked the Central and state governments to examine the possibility of formulating a clear Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the use of Aadhaar data in tracing missing children.
Providing details regarding this crucial hearing, Advocate Dheeraj Kumar said that the Division Bench expressed deep displeasure over the lethargic pace of the investigation into the case so far.
“The Court observed that the child has been missing since September 2018, yet despite the passage of more than seven years, she has not yet been recovered, a situation it deemed extremely grave,” said Advocate Dheeraj Kumar.
Meanwhile, the DGP was also present virtually during the hearing and apprised the court of the current status of the investigation. The court also posed direct questions to the Gumla SP.
However, the court observed that no significant progress had been made in the investigation, a fact over which it expressed its displeasure.
“The DGP informed the court that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been constituted to conduct an investigation into the matter. She also said that the SIT travelled to Delhi and other places to gather information regarding the abducted child and arranged for her photograph to be uploaded at various locations,” said the advocate.
However, the child has not yet been recovered, and the search continues.
Notably, a six-year-old girl went missing from Gumla in 2018. Despite repeated appeals by her parents, the police allegedly failed to trace her. After eight years with no progress, her mother filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court seeking the recovery of her missing daughter.
The petition was moved by the girl’s mother, Chandramuni Urain, who sought judicial intervention for her daughter’s recovery. Urain had approached the High Court in September last year, alleging that her daughter could have fallen victim to human trafficking.
The petitioner informed the court that although an FIR was lodged in 2019 after the child went missing, the local police allegedly failed to make meaningful progress in the investigation. Frustrated with the slow pace of action, she approached the High Court seeking urgent directions to ascertain her daughter’s whereabouts.
During earlier hearings in the same case, the court had expressed serious concern over issues related to child trafficking and the functioning of law enforcement agencies in the state.