Odisha seems to be fast turning into the most unsafe place for minor girls as the 600 minor girls who reportedly went missing over last several years from Bhubaneswar are yet to be traced by the police.
While the families of the missing children cry for help seeking urgent intervention to speed up the probe, questions are now being raised over the efficacy of Commissionerate Police in tracing the whereabouts of the girls.
According to police sources, of the 712 minor girls who went missing in Bhubaneswar, the State police have so far traced and rescued only 112 girls. Over 600 missing cases related to minor girls are currently pending with the Commissionerate Police which has reportedly no clue about the whereabouts of these missing girls.
“My daughter has been missing since November 17, 2020. We had then filed a missing complaint at Khandagiri police station, but the police are yet to find my little daughter. They are only giving us false assurances and doing nothing. Please bring back our little daughter,” pleaded a desperate father in Bhubaneswar.
Also Read
“We have no faith in police now and hence, we have moved to the Orissa High Court,” he said.
On the other hand, former DG Sanjib Marik said that police are not giving much importance to the missing cases. “Police are only filing complaints on missing cases and not giving much importance to them. A number of missing girls have been traced by police. Few others have also returned to their parents. But these cases are not reported and closed in the police station. Police should give due importance to solve these missing cases,” said Marik.
It has become a huge challenge for the Commissionerate Police to trace those missing girls. A special cell has been formed by the Commissionerate Police. The Crime Branch has also started special drives like ‘Operation Smile’ and ‘Operation Pari’ to trace out the missing girls but failed to achieve much success. Now, questions have been raised over the efficiency of the Commissionerate Police.
“We have formed a special team and investigations are on to trace out the missing girls. We are hopeful of tracing them out soon,” said Police Commissioner Saumendra Priyadarshi.
(Edited by Pradeep Singh)