Gujarat Police rescue missing minor from Karnataka, 1,200 km away
Synopsis
A 14-year-old girl missing from Vadodara since December was found over 1,200 km away in a Shivamogga temple, where the accused had allegedly assumed a priestly identity. The Gujarat AHTU's cross-state operation — part of Operation Milap — is a rare example of anti-trafficking coordination actually delivering results at scale, with 1,978 persons traced across two phases.
Key Takeaways
Gujarat Police rescued a 14-year-old girl from Shivamogga, Karnataka , more than 1,200 km from her home in Vadodara .
The accused, Sunilkumar Bariya , was arrested at 4 am after a two-day temple surveillance by a five-member AHTU team .
The rescue was conducted under Operation Milap 's extended phase ( 12–21 June ), during which 500 missing persons were traced.
The first phase of Operation Milap ( 7 May – 5 June ) had already traced 1,478 missing persons , including 234 minor girls .
Deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi praised the operation on X , calling distance 'never a barrier when it comes to justice and humanity.'
Gujarat Police rescued a 14-year-old girl from Shivamogga, Karnataka — more than 1,200 km from her home — and reunited her with her family, in an operation that drew praise from Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi on Monday, 6 July. The rescue was conducted under Operation Milap, the Gujarat Police initiative to trace missing persons, and involved a dedicated anti-human trafficking unit working across state lines for several days.
How the Rescue Unfolded
The case began when a girl from Vadodara's Chhani area went missing on 18 December last year. After initial search efforts yielded no results, the investigation was handed over to the Vadodara Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU). Using technical surveillance and intelligence inputs, investigators tracked the accused — identified by police as Sunilkumar Bariya — to Shivamogga in Karnataka.
According to police, Bariya had allegedly lured the minor away from her home, completed a priesthood course in Jaipur to assume a new identity, and was working as a priest at a Jain temple in Shivamogga, where he allegedly introduced the girl as his wife.
The Operation on the Ground
A five-member team from the Vadodara AHTU, including a woman police officer, travelled to Karnataka and coordinated with local police. The team maintained surveillance on the temple for two days under adverse weather conditions. The accused was arrested at around 4 am on the third day, after which the girl was safely rescued and reunited with her family.
What the Deputy CM Said
Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi praised the operation in a post on X, writing: 'Distance is never a barrier when it comes to justice and humanity.' His remarks came in response to a Gujarat Police post highlighting the success of the mission. The police described it as: '1,200 km. One Mission. One Family Reunited.'
Operation Milap: Scale and Impact
The rescue is part of the extended phase of Operation Milap, conducted from 12 June to 21 June. During this 10-day extension, Gujarat Police traced 500 missing children and adults, including 288 women, 88 girls, 21 boys, and 103 men.
This followed the first phase of the operation, held from 7 May to 5 June, during which 1,478 missing persons were traced — among them 857 women and 234 minor girls. Police have stated that tracing missing women and children remains a standing priority beyond any special drive, with inter-state coordination a core pillar of the effort.
Point of View
But it also surfaces a harder question: why did it take months, and a specialised unit, to locate a child allegedly hiding in plain sight at a temple? The accused reportedly assumed a new identity after a course in Jaipur — a mobility trail that should have been traceable earlier. Operation Milap's aggregate numbers are impressive, but the system's dependence on special drives rather than routine inter-state tracking suggests a structural gap that periodic campaigns cannot fully close. The real measure of Gujarat Police's anti-trafficking machinery is whether it sustains this tempo between operations, not just during them.
NationPress
6 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Operation Milap and what has it achieved?
Operation Milap is a Gujarat Police initiative to trace missing persons and reunite them with their families. Across two phases in 2025, it traced a combined 1,978 persons — 1,478 in the first phase (7 May–5 June) and 500 in the extended phase (12–21 June), including hundreds of women and minor girls.
Who is Sunilkumar Bariya and what are the allegations against him?
Sunilkumar Bariya is the accused identified by Gujarat Police in connection with the disappearance of the 14-year-old girl from Vadodara. Police allege he lured the minor away, completed a priesthood course in Jaipur to assume a new identity, and was working as a priest at a Jain temple in Shivamogga, where he allegedly introduced the girl as his wife. He was arrested at around 4 am on the third day of surveillance.
How did Gujarat Police trace the missing girl to Karnataka?
The Vadodara Anti-Human Trafficking Unit used technical surveillance and intelligence inputs to track the accused to Shivamogga. A five-member team, including a woman officer, then coordinated with Karnataka Police and kept the temple under surveillance for two days before making the arrest.
What did Deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi say about the rescue?
Sanghavi posted on X: 'Distance is never a barrier when it comes to justice and humanity.' His remarks were in response to a Gujarat Police post about the successful inter-state rescue operation.
How long had the girl been missing before she was found?
The girl from Vadodara's Chhani area had been missing since 18 December of the previous year — roughly six to seven months before she was rescued in Shivamogga, Karnataka.
