Police files affidavit over missing children

Allahabad, May 15 (UNI) Deputy Superintendent of Police (legal cell), DGP headquarters, Lucknow and others today filed an affidavit in the Allahabad High Court in pursuance of the HC order of 719 missing children last year.

The affidavit said within the period of three months, 183 children had been traced and efforts were on to locate the remaining 536.

The children missing for the earlier five years were reported in the HC before the bench comprising Justices Amar Saran and R N Mishra.

Since, 2002-06, 1,971 children had been missing of which 1,440 were males and 531 females. Meanwhile, 462 children had been recovered.

From January to April 3, about 1,509 children still remained missing, but as a result of the court orders, in a period of about three months, as many as 645 children have been traced out.

The court had passed the order on a writ petition filed by V D Sharma and directed the investigating officer to appear in person in the court on July 17 and submit the progress report of the investigation made so far.

The court also asked him to furnish explanation of his lapses.

It noted that majority of the missing children belonged to higher age groups, who sometimes run away because of stress of studies or examinations and parental criticism or in connection with romantic liaisons.

The figures mentioned in the affidavit revealed that 38 male children upto the age of five years, 152 male children upto the age of 10 years, 913 male children upto the age of 18 years, 31 female children upto the age of five years, 43 female children upto the age of 10 years and 332 female children upto the age of 18 years were yet to be traced.

UNI