SECUNDERABAD: The number of children going missing from railway stations in the city has taken an alarming leap, according to sources. In most cases, it is found that the missing children who land in the net of railway police personnel were abducted or abandoned at the platforms, while some of them are found to have disappeared intentionally.
Railway protection force (RPF) and government railway police (GRP) sleuths say they are taking cues from CCTV footage to crack down on missing kids. Railway officials say they are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the safety of children in railway premises and cite child helpline kiosks at Secunderabad and Kacheguda stations in a joint effort of the women and child development ministry and railway ministry.
But the abduction of a seven-year-old boy from Secunderabad railway station on Monday shows that there are still some loopholes. Police sources said there has been around 300% rise in missing children who have been sniffed out by them in three years after being kidnapped or left at railway stations, including Secunderabad, Kacheguda and Hyderabad.
Since 2015, around 323 such children have been lost and found on an average per year under SCR zone. But the previous records show that only an average 25 among 100 kidnapped or abandoned children had been rescued.
The railway police personnel echo railway officials statting that CCTVs would help them bust abduction rackets. But till now, 10 stations across the state have had
integrated security system like CCTVs, while the same is due to be installed at 39 other stations. “Child help desks at stations are manned by Childline members and their partners to rehabilitate missing kids and restore them to their family,” said a railway official. But many stations under the zone have neither CCTVs nor kiosks till now.
