The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday, 2 July 2025, impleaded the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a formal respondent in the case of a 14-year-old girl who has been missing from Bokaro district for nearly six years, directing the agency to actively participate in the investigation alongside the state Crime Investigation Department (CID). The order came during the hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed by the missing girl's mother, Usha Jha, before a division bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad.

What the Court Directed

The bench directed the CBI and the state CID to carry forward the probe in close coordination, with the CBI mandated to provide technical assistance and investigative support to leverage its specialised expertise and resources. The court formally added the CBI as a party to the case after notifying Additional Solicitor General Prashant Pallav. The next date of hearing has been fixed for 27 July.

Notably, the court also directed both investigating agencies to deploy GAIT software — a gait-analysis tool used for biometric identification — in the probe, citing a precedent from a case in Pune. The bench emphasised the need for greater use of scientific and technological tools, underscoring that conventional investigative methods had failed to yield a breakthrough.

The 90% Facial Match That Could Not Be Confirmed

During the hearing, the CID informed the court that an e-KYC facial matching exercise had flagged a girl in Gopalganj, Bihar, whose face matched that of the missing Bokaro teenager by approximately 90 per cent. However, the identification could not be confirmed because fingerprint records and other identification details did not match, leaving the lead unresolved.

This is a significant development — a near-match of this degree ordinarily warrants intensive field verification — but the discrepancy in biometric data has kept investigators from drawing a definitive conclusion. The court's direction to use GAIT software appears aimed at supplementing facial recognition with an additional layer of biometric analysis.

Background: Six Years, No Breakthrough

The case originates from the Pindrajora police station area of Bokaro district. The girl went missing on 16 October 2020, and the supervision report filed after the registration of the First Information Report (FIR) treated the case as one of abduction. Her bicycle, slippers, and books were recovered from near the spot where she was last seen — but no significant investigative progress followed.

With state police efforts yielding little, the case was transferred to the CID. The court, however, observed on Thursday that even after the handover, the investigation had largely remained confined to findings and groundwork carried out earlier by the state police, with no meaningful fresh leads developed. It was this stagnation that prompted the bench to bring the CBI into the picture.

Who Appeared in Court

Advocate General Rohitashya Roy represented the state government during Thursday's proceedings. The petitioner — the missing girl's mother — was represented by advocates Vincent Rohit Marandi and Ritu Nanda. Senior CID officials, including the Additional Director General (ADG) and members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), were also present in court.

With the CBI now formally in the frame and a 90-per-cent facial match awaiting deeper verification, the case moves into a critical phase — the next hearing on 27 July will test whether the joint probe can finally deliver answers to a family that has waited six years.