AHMEDABAD: A month-long statewide operation by Gujarat Police has reunited 1,470 missing persons with their families, while shedding light on troubling trends behind disappearances, particularly among teenage girls who emerged as the most vulnerable group.
The special drive, launched to trace long-pending missing persons cases, led investigators to recover hundreds of individuals and reopen cases that had remained unresolved for years.
Launched on May 7 under the banner of Operation Milap, the statewide mission targeted pending missing persons cases and pushed police teams into an intensive search that extended across Gujarat and several other states.
The urgency was backed by a grim reality. Police records show that 24,767 people have been reported missing in Gujarat since 2007, making the operation one of the state's largest coordinated tracing exercises.
Investigators combed through old case files, revisited forgotten leads and pursued avenues that had remained unexplored for years. At the same time, fresh intelligence was generated through mobile phone analysis, digital footprints, social media monitoring, transport hubs, shelter homes and extensive field verification.
According to Additional Director General of Police, CID Crime (Women Cell), Ajay Choudhary, the operation relied on both technology and ground intelligence.
"The operation was based on both technical and human intelligence inputs and involved a thorough review of old case records along with fresh field-level verification. Police teams examined digital records, social media activity, transport hubs and shelter homes, while also revisiting complainants and witnesses to gather fresh leads," he said.
The investigation also exposed a disturbing social trend. Senior police officials said adolescent girls emerged as the most vulnerable group, with many disappearances linked to emotional relationships and elopement.
"Operation Milap has revealed important trends behind missing persons cases in Gujarat, with adolescent girls emerging as the most vulnerable group. During the special drive, police traced a large number of missing children and women, including several long-pending cases and recoveries from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand and West Bengal," a senior officer said.
The recovered figures underline the scale of the operation. Of the 1,470 persons traced, 852 were women, 342 were men, 234 were minor girls and 42 were minor boys. Surat City Police topped the state by tracing 341 missing persons, the highest among all police units.
Police analysis found that romantic relationships and elopement were the biggest reasons behind disappearances, particularly among girls aged 14 to 17 years. Family disputes, parental scolding, academic failures and domestic tensions also played a major role, while migration among labour families often turned local cases into interstate investigations.
The drive also reopened missing persons cases registered as far back as 2007, leading to the recovery of several individuals whose whereabouts had remained unknown for years.
The operation was carried out under the broader citizen-centric policing strategy being pursued by Gujarat Police, focusing on women's safety, protection of children and vulnerable persons, action against narcotics networks, tracking illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and strengthening national security.
Even though the special campaign has formally ended, police said the search will continue.
"Although the special drive to trace missing persons has concluded, our efforts will not stop here. Police officers have been instructed to continue pursuing missing persons cases alongside their routine policing duties," said Gujarat Director General of Police G. S. Malik.
He further stressed that tracing missing persons, especially women and children, would remain a top policing priority as Gujarat Police continues its mission to reunite families and ensure that no missing persons case is left forgotten.
