Coimbatore: Of the 283 people who went missing in the rural parts of the district from January to November 16 this year, police have traced 48 of them in the past one week alone, thanks to the special drive launched by the west zone police.
Rajesh Das, special director general of police (law & order) in the state, had on November 16 directed all the police officials to conduct ‘missing persons tracing mela’ to trace the missing children, youths and adults.
Subsequently, district superintendent of police (SP) Ara Arularasu had formally inaugurated the special drive on Sunday when around 108 people, who had lodged complaints on missing people with the rural police, visited the respective police stations. “Our focus is on tracking the missing people. Most cases pertain to elopements though.”
It is to be noted that photos of missing people would be uploaded on the crime and criminal tracking network and systems (CCTNS) website once a case is registered.
As per the data available with the rural police, 138 men, 106 women, five boys and 34 girls had gone missing from their jurisdiction till November 16 this year. At least 48 of them were traced during the special drive till Sunday. There are 235 people yet to be traced.
Pointing out that photos of unclaimed dead bodies of people, who were drowned, killed in road accidents or found dead on roadsides, would also be uploaded on the CCTNS website, the officer said such photos were shown to the 108 petitioners who turned up as part of the drive on Sunday. “It helped us solve two cases by establishing the identity of two of the dead elderly people.”
The rural police have a record of 126 unclaimed dead bodies. The SP said they would bury the unclaimed dead bodies a week after their recovery with the help of NGOs. “We have to trace the identity of 126 unclaimed dead bodies.”
The west zone comprises eight districts - Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Namakkal. The special drive has helped trace 173 missing people in the zone.