4, 750 missing persons untraced
By Shariff Ameeruddin Ishaqui
Hyderabad, February 3: About 4,750 men and women and children who went missing in 2006 remain untraced so far. Among these are 1900 children, 1279 women and 1,570 men, according to police statistics. The total number of missing persons was 7,749 including 3,497 children, 2004 women and 2,248 men. The highest number of missing cases were reported in Hyderabad and Cyberabad. The Andhra Pradesh High Court has frequently pulled up the State Police on several occasions for not paying attention to missing person cases. Senior Police officials including the State home secretary and district police superintendents of police have been summoned by the High Court in these missing cases. Embarrassingly for the police, in at least three instances missing women turned up at the court even as the police was explaining why it could not trace them.
Un the backdrop of such experiences, the state police has decided to give top priority to cases of missing persons.
The CID has directed a fortnightly review at the divisional level, monthly review by superintendents of police at the district level and detailed review every three months at the state level.
The state crime records Bureau Inspector- General has been appointed as liaison officer to monitor the cases, official said.
Sources in the police department told this correspondent that the police in AP was issuing first information report after registering the cases.
“Karnataka, Tamilnadu, and Andhra Pradesh have been following the procedure of registering missing cases, issue of first information report (FIR) and issuing look- out notices” said deputy inspector general of police Umapathy of the state crime investigation department.” The case is then handed over to sub inspector”.
In the state like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar, the practise is to make an entry in the station general dairy of missiong cases. The responsibility of tracing is handed over to a constable.
Mr.Umapathy said this system had been in practice in the three southern states since it as first implemented by the British.
