The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said pro-active steps should be taken by the Delhi Police to trace missing children.
A bench of justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said district anti-human trafficking units (AHTU) are currently functioning to investigate cases of children between the ages of three and eight that are missing for four months or more, and the cases where there is suspicion of links to trafficking and organised crime.
The court directed that the AHTUs shall henceforth function as a nodal agency for all cases of missing children in the district concerned and they shall work in close coordination with the local police and other agencies, providing expert assistance to investigating officers in collection and analysis of technical evidence.
"Pro-active steps should be taken by the Delhi Police to curb the menace of missing children. To this end, within a period of 48 hours, an officer not below the rank of an Additional DCP shall be nominated in each district, who