Tripura High Court issues guidelines for effective investigation in missing persons cases

The Tripura High Court recently issued guidelines to ensure effective investigations for locating missing persons in the State. [Amulya Bhattacharjee & Anr v State & 4 Ors].Justice T Amarnath Goud directed the Secretary of Home Affairs, Government of Tripura, to immediately issue and enforce a standing operating procedure (SoP) to be followed while tracing missing persons."To trace out the missing persons, the police department of the State needs to play a vital role. They cannot be expected to delay with matter when the life of missing persons is at stake. Since the matter has come up before the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, it becomes imperative on our part to deal with the case and extend some respite to the distressed families," the Court observed..The guidelines are as follows:A. Publish photographs of the missing person in newspapers, television, social media and prominent outlets of the city/town/village, not later than one week of the receipt of the complaint. In case of a minor/major girl, such photographs shall not be published without the written consent of the parents/guardian. B. Make inquiries and contact family members of missing person...all clues from the papers and belongings of the missing person should be promptly investigated. C. Any previous history of going missing must be looked into . The missing person’s computer, cell phone, diaries must be scrutinised with the consent of the families. D. Inquiries should be made from the hospital, if any, of unidentified persons in the hospital. E. Investigating Officer should always be of the rank of Inspector of Police. F. Make necessary inquiries whether there has/have been any past incident(s)/reports of violence in the family.G. Hospitals and mortuaries are to be searched immediately, not more than seven days from the receipt of complaint. H. The reward for furnishing clues about missing persons should be announced within a month of his/her disappearance.I. The concerned Police Commissioner or the DIG/IG of the State Police would find out the feasibility of establishing a multi-task force for locating the girl children/women/ missing persons. J. Immediately after registering the case, wireless messages should be sent to the District Superintendents of Police by the Investigating Officer. A report on the progress of the investigation should be submitted to the Director General of Police until recovery/finding of the missing person. Communicate the said report to the parents/guardians/ family members of the missing person every 15 days. K. DNA profiling of unidentified dead bodies are to be tallied with the DNA of the missing person.L. Issue "Certificate of Missing" by the concerned authority, if, after all diligent efforts for six months since complaint, the missing persons could not be traced out for. If the missing person remains untraced for four months, such cases shall be transferred to the Integrated Anti Human Trafficking Unit (IAHTU) for further investigation..The Court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging State police inaction in tracing missing people.In one of the cases, the petitioner's daughter, who suffers from a severe brain disorder, went missing from her residence on February 4 this year.The petitioner lodged a missing persons complaint with the West Agartala Women Police Station. Due to the inaction by the police, the petitioner submitted a request on February 20 to expedite the search and later approached the Superintendent of Police on April 9, to no avail. Consequently, the petitioner sought relief from the Court.The State counsel assured the Bench that the police department was ready to extend all possible assistance to trace out the missing persons. With these observation, the Court disposed of the plea after issuing the guidelines..Senior Advocate P Roy Barman and Advocates S Bhattacharjee and K Chakraborty appeared for petitioners.Advocate General SS Dey and Advocates Kohinoor N Bhattacharjee and Raju Datt appeared for the State..[Read Order]