Operation Muskaan: Surat Police reunites 696 missing persons, 257 children in 4 months
Synopsis
Surat Police's Missing Cell quietly reopened 18 years' worth of cold cases and, in just four months, brought 696 missing persons — including 257 children — back to their families. Operation Muskaan is a rare, data-backed win in India's chronic missing persons crisis, and a potential blueprint for police forces nationwide.
Key Takeaways
Surat Police traced 696 missing persons , including 257 children , between January and April 2025 under Operation Muskaan .
The operation involved re-examining missing case records spanning the last 18 years .
Month-wise recoveries: 152 (January), 193 (February), 194 (March), 157 (April).
Teams used technical surveillance , human intelligence, informant networks, and inter-state police coordination.
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi praised the police team for the landmark effort.
Several individuals were located outside Gujarat , highlighting the operation's inter-state reach.
Surat Police's 'Operation Muskaan' successfully traced and reunited 696 missing persons, including 257 children, with their families between January and April 2025 — the result of a sweeping re-investigation of missing cases registered over the past 18 years. The operation, conducted by the Missing Cell of Surat Crime Branch, marks one of the most comprehensive missing persons recoveries in Gujarat in recent memory.
How the Operation Was Conducted
The four-month drive was carried out under the guidance of State Director General of Police K.L.N. Rao and Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot, with on-ground supervision by Additional Police Commissioner of Crime Branch Karanraj Vaghela. Multiple specialised teams were deployed, employing technical surveillance, human intelligence, informant networks, and active coordination with local sarpanches and police authorities across other states.
In several cases, missing individuals were located outside Gujarat — in different states and districts — underscoring the inter-state scale of the operation. The Missing Cell also undertook a detailed re-examination of records spanning 18 years to identify leads that had remained inconclusive or had not been pursued earlier.
Month-by-Month Breakdown
According to official data, 152 persons were traced in January, comprising 16 boys, 15 girls, 86 women, and 35 men. In February, 193 persons were reunited with their families — 38 boys, 59 girls, 52 women, and 44 men. March saw 194 individuals traced, including 33 boys, 42 girls, 67 women, and 52 men. In April, 157 persons were recovered, including 27 boys, 27 girls, 50 women, and 53 men.
In total, the operation reunited 114 boys, 143 girls, 255 women, and 184 men with their families. The cases addressed included those registered between 2022 and 2025, as well as older, long-pending matters.
Political Recognition and Significance
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi praised the efforts of the police team, acknowledging the operation's scale and the sustained investigative effort it required. Officials said the coordinated approach demonstrated the importance of consistent follow-up in missing persons investigations — a category of cases that frequently goes cold due to resource constraints and jurisdictional complexity.
Notably, this operation comes amid growing national concern over missing children and women, with India recording tens of thousands of such cases annually. The Surat Crime Branch's initiative — reviving cases as old as 18 years — sets a benchmark for how cold missing persons files can be systematically revisited.
What Comes Next
Officials indicated that the re-examination of historical records is ongoing, and further recoveries are possible as additional leads are pursued. The success of Operation Muskaan is expected to serve as a model for other police units in Gujarat and potentially other states looking to address backlogs in missing persons cases.
Point of View
Only under-resourced ones. India's missing persons crisis is chronic and under-reported; tens of thousands of cases are filed annually, yet closure rates remain dismally low. What Surat's Crime Branch has done — systematically mining 18 years of records with modern surveillance tools and inter-state coordination — is precisely the kind of institutional persistence that rarely gets funded or rewarded. The question now is whether Gujarat and other states will institutionalise this model, or whether Operation Muskaan remains a one-off headline.
NationPress
11 May 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Operation Muskaan by Surat Police?
Operation Muskaan is a missing persons recovery drive conducted by the Missing Cell of Surat Crime Branch between January and April 2025. It involved re-investigating cases registered over the past 18 years and successfully reunited 696 missing persons, including 257 children, with their families.
How many children were reunited under Operation Muskaan?
A total of 257 children were reunited with their families — comprising 114 boys and 143 girls — as part of the four-month operation.
Who led Operation Muskaan in Surat?
The operation was conducted under the guidance of State Director General of Police K.L.N. Rao and Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot, with supervision from Additional Police Commissioner of Crime Branch Karanraj Vaghela.
What methods did Surat Police use to trace missing persons?
Police deployed multiple specialised teams using technical surveillance, human intelligence, informant networks, and coordination with local sarpanches and police authorities in other states, enabling recoveries from locations outside Gujarat.
Why is Operation Muskaan significant for India's missing persons crisis?
It demonstrates that systematic re-examination of cold case records, combined with modern investigative tools and inter-state coordination, can yield results even in cases decades old. It is being seen as a potential model for other police units across India dealing with backlogs in missing persons investigations.
