Haryana Police traced and reunited more than 17,000 missing persons with their families across the state in 2025, including several long-pending cases spanning over two decades, as part of an intensified drive against human trafficking and missing person cases, police data released on Thursday showed.
Among the most significant cases was that of Durga Devi, who went missing from Maharashtra at the age of eight and spent her childhood at a Bal Bhawan in Karnal. After 25 years, she was reunited with her family in Bhandara district following sustained efforts by the Yamunanagar Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU).
Based on a faint childhood memory of a temple located between two railway crossings, police traced her roots to Maharashtra. During a video call, she recognised the temple, confirming her identity and bringing a decades-long separation to an end. Durga, now married and settled in Haryana, was formally reunited with her family, the Haryana Police maintained in a statement.
Another case involved Amit, who had gone missing at the age of seven and grew up in a children’s home in Ghaziabad with only fragmentary memories of his parents. After 22 years, the Panchkula AHTU traced his mother, enabling their reunion. Police said Amit had remembered only his parents’ names, Jaggu and Neeta, which helped investigators narrow down the search.
Of the 17,000 missing persons reunited during the year, 13,529 were adults, including 4,130 men and 9,399 women who had been separated from their families due to various social and economic circumstances.
“Giving utmost priority to the safety of children, the police also safely traced and reunited 3,122 minors with their parents, including 1,113 boys and 2,009 girls,” the police statement read.
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The campaign also focused on rescue and rehabilitation. Police rehabilitated 184 children who had been forced into begging and rescued 191 child labourers from exploitative conditions. In a parallel effort across the state, a total of 1,473 children were rescued from forced begging, while 2,313 child labourers were freed and guided towards rehabilitation and education.
Director General of Police Ajay Singhal issued directives to further strengthen the tracing of missing persons by enhancing the functioning of the Special Cell of the Haryana Police State Crime Branch. The cell has been tasked with preparing a centralised database of missing persons, particularly children, and deploying modern technology to ensure faster identification and recovery.
The DGP also directed that photographs of missing persons must be of high quality, Anti-Human Trafficking Units should function more proactively, and accountability of officers involved in such cases must be clearly fixed.
He emphasised that missing persons cases remain among the top priorities of the Haryana government.
At present, 22 Anti-Human Trafficking Units operating under the State Crime Branch are engaged in tackling human trafficking and missing person cases. Over the past year, these units independently reunited 700 adults, including 277 men and 423 women, and traced 538 minors, 345 boys and 193 girls, restoring them to their families.
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