In five years, from 2013 to 2018, a total of 2,264 girls and women from the city have not been traced after they went missing or were abducted.

The admission was made by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in a written reply to a question by Mangalprabhat Lodha (BJP leader, Malabar Hill), Amal Mahadik (BJP leader, Kolhapur South) and others, in the state Legislative Assembly, on Tuesday.

Nearly 5,056 girls (under 18 years of age) were kidnapped or went missing between 2013 to 2017, from the area under the jurisdiction of the city police commissionerate. Of these, only 4,758 girls have been found. A total of 298 girls are yet to be found.

In the same time period, the number of women (above 18 years of age), who went missing is 21,652. Of these, 19,686 women were found. A total of 1,966 women in this age cohort are still untraceable.

Fadnavis, in his reply, said that after the Supreme Court's (SC) order on May 10, 2013, on a writ petition (75/2012) by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a case of kidnapping was registered for instances where girls under the age of eighteen went missing. It is due to this, there has been a rise in the number of kidnapping cases.

A standard operating procedure (SOP) has been prepared to trace missing persons and has been distributed to all police units. Websites, namely, www.trackthemissingchild.gov.in, www.mumbaipolice.gov.in, www.shodh.gov.in and a toll-free helpline 1098 have been operationalised.

Fadnavis also said that efforts are being made to launch a task force in the jurisdiction of 24 municipal corporation areas in the city, to rescue child beggars.