Aadhaar helps Delhi cops find boy missing since 2016

NEW DELHI: A boy missing since 2016 has been rescued from Jaipur by Crime Branch of Delhi Police in just three days with the help of a mobile phone number linked recently to his Aadhaar number. His kidnapper has also been arrested.

Sidharth (name changed) was around 11 years old when he had come to an akhara in outer Delhi’s Shahbad Dairy from Haryana to become a wrestler. While training there for about a year, he had become friends with a 19-year-old trainee, Dinesh.

The head of the akhara, however, was unhappy with Dinesh’s performance and finally rusticated him after getting several complaints against him and catching him smoking on multiple occasions.

Dinesh had left the akhara in a few days, and a day later, on November 30, 2016, Sidharth went missing. An FIR was lodged and the police started investigating the case. A reward of Rs 25,000 was also declared but the boy couldn’t be found. Finally the case was transferred to Crime Branch last week.

On Wednesday, the case file was received by the anti-human trafficking unit, led by DCP (crime) Joy Tirkey, and in just three days, it managed to unite the boy with his parents. Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik has appreciated the efforts made by the team.

After receiving the file, a team led by ACP Surender Gulia and inspector Virender Kumar contacted the family and was given a copy of his Aadhaar card. Following some technical analysis, cops found that a mobile number ending with 8715 was recently linked to this Aadhaar number in Rajasthan, a source said.

This helped cops and Sidharth’s family members reach a house in Jaipur’s Kanti Nagar and found both of them. Although the boy didn’t complain of any abuse by Dinesh, the police arrested him for luring a minor, which amounts to kidnapping.

The boy said Dinesh had asked him to accompany him and they went to several towns in Haryana and Rajasthan before settling in Jaipur. They had put up two stalls to sell fruits and Dinesh also drove an e-rickshaw on rent.

“Dinesh helped me continue my training in Jaipur. He was also going to take me to Kolhapur for weight-gain training. He took care of me and I was willingly living here,” Sidharth told his family.