Gujarat Police traced 701 missing persons in just two weeks under Operation Milaap, a statewide campaign to locate individuals reported missing since 2007 and reunite them with their families, officials announced on Thursday, 21 May. The drive, conducted between 7 May and 21 May, marks one of the state's most intensive missing persons recovery efforts in recent years.

Scope and Scale of the Operation

The operation was launched under the instructions of Gujarat Director General of Police K.L.N. Rao, who directed all Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to reopen long-pending missing person cases, reassess evidence, and intensify field-level investigations using both traditional and technical methods. According to official data, more than 24,767 missing person cases have been registered in the state since 2007.

Of the 701 individuals traced during the two-week period, 19 were minor boys, 97 were minor girls, 417 were women, and 168 were men — underscoring that the majority of those recovered were women and children.

What the Government Said

Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi described the outcome as a reflection of structured implementation across the state. 'Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat Police has undertaken a special campaign to trace missing persons. All necessary resources have been made available for this purpose. The success of the campaign is that 701 persons were traced across the state between May 7 and May 21 and reunited with their families,' he said.

Additional Director General of Police of CID Crime and Railways (Women Cell), Ajay Chaudhary, said the operation relies on a structured, intelligence-led approach. 'Missing persons are being traced on the basis of data, technical intelligence and human intelligence. Officers have been given clear guidelines, and due to these coordinated efforts, we are successfully tracing persons missing for years,' he added.

How Investigators Are Working

Gujarat Police issued a 15-point Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to all police stations to standardise investigations. The SOP covers reopening case files, re-interviewing complainants, analysing digital and forensic evidence, tracking social media activity, and inspecting transport hubs, shelters, and public locations. Officers have also been directed to monitor missing persons' mobile phones where possible, trace last known locations, and examine activity on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Additionally, investigators are reviewing hospital mortuary records for unidentified bodies, matching them with missing persons' data, and questioning suspects previously arrested in kidnapping and trafficking-related cases.

A Case That Illustrates the Complexity

One resolved case involved a 23-year-old woman from Padra taluka in Vadodara district who went missing in 2016 along with her five-year-old son. Her husband had initially told police she had left for her parental home and did not return. When the case was reopened under Operation Milaap, her husband informed police that he had spotted her on social media a few months earlier. Acting on this lead, investigators traced her online activity and found she was living in Rajkot with a second husband and running a garba class. Her son, who had been missing since childhood, is now 15 years old. Preliminary findings indicated she had left due to family disputes and subsequently remarried in 2016.

Officials noted that such cases often reflect complex personal circumstances behind disappearances, including domestic disputes, relationship breakdowns, and financial difficulties.

Trafficking Links and What Comes Next

Authorities have noted that some cases, during investigation, have revealed links to broader criminal issues — including human trafficking and child trafficking networks — which are being examined as part of parallel inquiries where relevant. Police officials confirmed the process of tracing missing persons will continue as part of an ongoing statewide exercise in the coming weeks.