Mumbai Police Say Tracing Missing Children Is Top Priority; 99% Recovered In 2025

Mumbai Police Say Tracing Missing Children Is Top Priority; 99% Recovered In 2025

Mumbai Police reaffirmed that tracing missing children remains their top priority, achieving a 99 percent recovery rate in 2025 by reuniting 2,165 of 2,182 reported minors with families. In 2026, all seven missing children aged 0–5 were recovered. Of 178 reported cases this year, 17 teenagers remain untraced, with special teams deployed nationwide.

Poonam AprajUpdated: Friday, February 20, 2026, 11:05 PM IST
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Mumbai Police Trace 99% Missing Children In 2025, Achieve 100% Recovery In 0–5 Age Group In 2026 | Sourced

Mumbai: Reaffirming that tracing missing children remains its highest priority, the Mumbai Police has once again demonstrated strong recovery performance, successfully reuniting the vast majority of missing minors with their families. In 2025, out of 2,182 children reported missing across the city, 2,165 nearly 99 percent were safely traced and brought back home. Continuing the momentum in 2026, police have achieved a significant milestone by recovering all seven children in the 0–5 age group who were reported missing between January 2026 and the present.

100% Recovery in 0–5

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Satyanarayan Choudhary stated that cases involving very young children are treated with “extremely high priority,” which explains the 100 percent recovery rate in this age category so far this year.

2026 Report Card So Far

In the initial months of 2026, a total of 178 minors have been reported missing. Prompt police action has led to the recovery of 161 children, while 17 minors comprising 8 boys and 9 girls remain untraced. All of the missing children currently fall within the 16–18 age group.

Nationwide Search Operations

Special teams have been deployed across the country to trace the remaining minors. At present, three to four dedicated teams are operating in different parts of India to track their locations and ensure their safe return.

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Repeated Runaway Cases

Highlighting the seriousness with which such cases are handled, police officials cited an instance where a single child had to be traced and reunited with the family three to four times, as the minor repeatedly ran away from home. Each time, the police registered a formal case as per procedure and ensured the child’s safe recovery.

Five Age-Group Classification

To better understand and address patterns in missing children cases, the police department has classified incidents into five age groups:

0–5 years
5–10 years
10–14 years
14–16 years
16–18 years

Gender Breakup & Commitment

In 2025, among the 2,165 children traced, 55 percent were boys and 45 percent were girls. The department has reiterated its commitment to locating the remaining 17 minors at the earliest and safely reuniting them with their families.

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