The Delhi High Court has asked the police to ensure proper scientific investigation of missing children cases at the police station and district levels as all such matters cannot be transferred to the Crime Branch, "where the success rate seems to be very high".
To ensure maximum and early results in such cases with the least amount of manpower, a bench of justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal suggested providing latest technology at police stations and prescribing standard operating procedures so that there was a "synergy of resources".
"The Commissioner of Police is directed to take steps to ensure that proper scientific investigation is carried out of missing children cases at the police station level as well as the district level as all cases cannot be transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit or the Crime Branch, where the success rate seems to be very high," the bench said.
The suggestions of the court came while disposing of a habeas corpus petition moved by the mother of a missing girl seeking that her daughter be traced.
The 15-year-old girl had gone missing from her home in March and her mother had accused a young man and his father, who were known to her, of being responsible for her daughter's disappearance.
However, the police did not record the accused's name in the FIR and the court had, thereafter, transferred the probe to the Crime Branch.
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On May 15, the police produced the missing girl in court and she told the bench that she wanted to reside with her parents.
The court then disposed of the petition.
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