Operation Milap: Delhi Police reunite 193 missing persons in June 2026
Synopsis
Delhi's South-West District Police traced 193 missing persons in a single month under Operation Milap — including children missing since as far back as 2019. With 866 recoveries in the first half of 2026 alone, the operation reveals both the scale of the missing-persons crisis in the capital and a quietly effective multi-agency model that rarely makes headlines.
Key Takeaways
Delhi Police's South-West District reunited 193 missing persons with their families between 1 June and 30 June 2026 under Operation Milap .
Of those recovered, 48 were children (including kidnapped minors) and 145 were adults .
In the first half of 2026 (January–June), the district traced a total of 866 missing persons — 226 children and 640 adults .
The Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) alone traced 18 missing or kidnapped children in June.
Several individuals recovered in June had been missing since 2019 and 2021 , reflecting successful cold-case closures.
Search methods included CCTV analysis , public-photograph campaigns at transport hubs, and coordination with local informers.
Delhi Police's South-West District reunited 193 missing persons — including 48 children and 145 adults — with their families in June 2026 under Operation Milap, a dedicated missing-persons recovery drive. The recoveries, spanning 1 June to 30 June, were carried out across multiple police stations in the district through coordinated ground-level search operations.
Scale of the Operation
The June figures are part of a broader six-month effort: between 1 January and 30 June 2026, South-West District Police recovered a total of 866 missing persons, comprising 226 minor children and 640 adults. The numbers underscore the sustained pressure on urban police units to address what experts describe as a chronic missing-persons challenge in large metropolitan areas.
Notably, several individuals traced in June had been reported missing in previous years — including one woman missing since 2019 and two women missing since 2021, reflecting the persistence of cold-case recovery efforts within the operation.
How the Searches Were Conducted
Upon receiving a missing-person report, dedicated search teams were immediately deployed from the concerned police stations. Investigators conducted extensive local enquiries and reviewed CCTV footage from multiple locations to map the movement of missing individuals. Photographs were circulated at auto-rickshaw stands, e-rickshaw stands, bus terminals, and railway stations to enlist public help.
Police teams also questioned bus drivers, conductors, and local vendors, while local informers were actively engaged. Records of nearby police stations and hospitals were cross-checked to develop leads. The multi-pronged approach reflects a template that has increasingly become standard in urban missing-persons work.
Station-wise Breakdown
The Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), South-West District, made the single largest contribution among specialised units, tracing 18 missing or kidnapped minor children — including 6 boys and 12 girls — all of whom were safely returned to their families.
The District Missing Persons Unit (DMPU) traced 57 missing adults, comprising 18 males and 39 females. Among individual stations, Police Station Sagarpur recovered 15 adults, Police Station Palam Village traced 6 children and 11 adults, and Police Station Kapashera recovered 7 children and 10 adults. Police Station Vasant Vihar reunited 10 missing adults with their families.
Year-wise Recovery Data
The June operations also closed cases from multiple prior years. Police traced 3 adults from cases registered in 2022, 16 persons from 2023 cases (including one minor girl), 20 adults from 2024, and 34 persons from cases registered in 2025. The recovery of individuals missing for up to seven years signals that Operation Milap is not limited to recent cases alone.
What This Signals
Delhi consistently ranks among Indian cities with the highest volume of missing-person reports, driven by factors including migration, domestic disputes, and trafficking. The structured, multi-agency approach under Operation Milap — combining AHTU, DMPU, and individual station teams — represents a shift from reactive policing toward systematic tracing. Whether the model will be expanded district-wide across Delhi remains to be seen.
Point of View
But the more telling figure is 866 in six months — an average of over 140 missing persons traced every month in just one of Delhi's many districts. That volume points to a structural missing-persons crisis in the capital, not a policing success story in isolation. The AHTU's role in tracing 18 children underscores how blurred the line between 'missing' and 'trafficked' often is. What the data does not tell us — and what authorities have not disclosed — is the recurrence rate: how many of those reunited go missing again, and why. Without that accountability loop, Operation Milap risks becoming a statistic rather than a solution.
NationPress
2 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Operation Milap?
Operation Milap is a Delhi Police initiative to trace and reunite missing persons — including children and adults — with their families. Under the operation, South-West District Police recovered 193 missing persons in June 2026 alone, using CCTV analysis, public outreach at transport hubs, and multi-unit coordination.
How many missing persons were recovered under Operation Milap in 2026?
Between 1 January and 30 June 2026, South-West District Police traced a total of 866 missing persons, comprising 226 minor children and 640 adults, across all police stations and specialised units in the district.
What role did the Anti Human Trafficking Unit play in Operation Milap?
The Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of South-West District traced 18 missing or kidnapped minor children — 6 boys and 12 girls — in June 2026, making it the largest single-unit contributor among specialised teams in that period.
Were any long-pending missing-person cases resolved under Operation Milap?
Yes. During June 2026 operations, police traced individuals missing since as far back as 2019, including one woman missing since 2019 and two women missing since 2021, along with persons from cases registered in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
How did Delhi Police locate missing persons under Operation Milap?
Police used a combination of CCTV footage review, local informer networks, distribution of photographs at auto-rickshaw stands, bus terminals and railway stations, and cross-checking hospital and police station records. Bus drivers, conductors, and local vendors were also questioned to trace movement of missing individuals.
