The disturbing trend of children going missing continues in Odisha with a three-year-old baby boy disappearing under mysterious circumstances at Raipur village under Soro police limits in Balasore district.
The missing toddler has been identified as Subham, the son of Mohan Sahu of Raipur village.
As per reports, Subham went missing while playing on a village road in front of their house on January 1. His parents and villagers searched everywhere including the village pond, bus stand and railway station, but could not find him anywhere.
Even the police and firefighters have failed to locate the child after a frantic search.
Subham’s family alleged somebody has kidnapped him and has filed a complaint at Soro Police Station following which a probe has been launched with the help of a dog squad.
Speaking about the case, Balasore Sadar SDPO, Sashank Sekhar Behura said, “The child went missing while playing with his sister. His family intimated the police yesterday afternoon. The police along with the firefighters and a dog squad searched nearby places including the pond.”
“We are continuing our search operation. The sniffer dog has led us to a pond and the railway station. We have spoken to the RPF too and have sought their help to locate the child, in case he boarded a train with someone,” Behura said.
It is worthwhile to mention here that Odisha is among the top three states of the country when it comes to human trafficking as well as the number of missing children, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The recently released Crime In India (CII) 2022 report says that the state recorded the third highest number of cases relating to missing children. Around 5,581 children went missing in Odisha in 2022, just behind Madhya Pradesh (5,769) and Maharashtra (6,323). Missing children are deemed as kidnapped.