Chandigarh, May 22 (PTI) The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of Haryana Police has successfully traced and reunited 3,406 missing persons with their families from January 1 to March 31, 2025, yielding an overall recovery rate of 78.1 percent, an official statement said on Thursday.
Over the past 18 months the unit reunited long-missing persons with their families. It successfully located and reunited 44 adults and children who had been missing for more than 20 years, the statement said.
Additionally, 22 persons missing for more than 16 years, 47 people missing for over 11 years, and 54 persons missing for more than 6 years were also successfully reunited with their long-lost families, it added.
“These cases were highly complex and challenging involving decades-old disappearances, vague identities, minimal documentation, and changing geographies,” the statement said.
Haryana Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur said the safe return of a missing child or a person is not merely the closing of a case file, it is the restoration of a family’s sense of wholeness.
The AHTU is a symbol of the humane side of policing, extending beyond legal mandates to serve as pillars of hope for the most vulnerable sections of society, he said.
“Haryana Police’s work in this direction is now emerging as a replicable model for other states as well. It is not only a success in terms of law enforcement but also a profound example of social reintegration,” he added. “Through the process of reunification, the state police has proven that with determination and strategic action, every missing person can be brought home,” the DGP said.
The statement further noted that FIRs are being registered in 100 per cent of the complaints, resulting in nearly 80 per cent of the missing persons being successfully brought back, not just within the state but even in neighbouring states and countries like Nepal.
“In several cases, the missing persons were speech and hearing-impaired or even mentally challenged. Solving such cases posed additional challenges, but using technology and skill the Haryana Police successfully resolved such cases,” it added.
It said that in 2023, under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 363 (kidnapping) the rate of recovery was 93.11 per cent, while it was 95.83 per cent under 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman), and under 366A (procuration of minor girl) the recovery rate was 92.08 per cent.
“In 2024, the figures remained consistently high — 88.89 per cent under (363 IPC), 90.45 per cent (366 IPC), and 89.30 per cent (366A IPC),” the statement added.
“Even in IPC Section 346, which includes large volumes of missing persons cases, the police ensured successful recovery rate of 87.17 per cent in 2023 and 84.75 per cent in 2024 of the cases,” it further said.
Similarly, from January 1 to March 31, 2025, out of the total 4,361 cases, 3,406 missing persons were successfully traced and reunited with their families, yielding an overall recovery rate of 78.1 percent, it said.
It also said that the state police is working on mission mode, to ensure the prevention of crimes against women and children, safe return of survivors, and strong legal action against offenders, strengthening the law-and-order framework in the state. PTI SUN OZ OZ OZ
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