The case of a missing 10-year-old girl found within two hours on February 29 has raised the hackles of residents in the Kherwadi area of Bandra East. Though the family is thankful to the police that the child was traced, they are baffled that no FIR was registered in the matter. The local Nirmal Nagar police also didn’t carry out the medical examination of the child.
Recently, the Nirmal Nagar police solved three other cases of missing children but it’s not clear if FIRs were registered. This also shows prevailing crime in the area. The FPJ tried to speak to senior inspector Shreemat Shinde, but all efforts failed.
Details of a recent case
In the current case, on February 29, at 6.30pm, a 10-year-old girl went missing from Gopal Niwas chawl. She had gone for tuition at a coaching class nearby and was asked to go back and bring a book that she had forgotten. However, she never reached home. The CCTV showed her crossing one Bharati Lunch Home.
According to the child’s relative, she regularly attended tuition classes at a building located in Shantilal Compound, close to her home. When she didn’t come back to the class even after 30 minutes, the teacher phoned her mother, who said she hadn’t come back home.
Consequently, the family conducted a thorough search in the building and the nearby area for almost 90 minutes, following which they approached the Nirmal Nagar police station, triggering immediate action.
The police quickly assembled four teams to conduct a search and asked for a photo of the girl. Sub-inspector Shashank Parab coordinated the mega search and the photo was sent to all police stations across Mumbai. Efforts were made to review CCTV footage along the girl’s route. Despite some issues with malfunctioning cameras in certain buildings, the police obtained footage from Bharati Lunch Home’s CCTV, which revealed that the girl had headed towards her home but never returned to the tuition centre.
After a while, the Gamdevi police contacted the Nirmal Nagar police to report that the child had been found at Grant Road railway station, unconscious on a bench. She regained consciousness upon hearing a train horn. In a distressed state, she approached a woman commuter, who handed her to the Gamdevi police.
"Police have not registered an FIR"
The girl’s uncle, Chandrakant Badsiwal, told the FPJ on Monday, “We requested the Nirmal Nagar police to register an FIR and trace the culprit so that other kids don’t fall victim to his criminal activities, but the police have not registered an FIR.”
He said, “My niece doesn’t recall anything. She only mentioned that her nose was hurting. She can only recall what happened after she woke up at the railway station, but has no idea as to what happened before that.”
