Delhi: Gaming app helps police trace 16-year-old missing girl

After the police learnt that the girl used her parents’ phones to play an online game and was in touch with other gamers, a police team analysed the app, retrieved her contacts and contacted one of her gamer friends, who helped them trace her location.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Amrutha Guguloth said that the girl’s mother approached them on Monday with a missing complaint. “Her daughter had left (home) a day before and did not come back. We alerted all staff to look for the missing child immediately. Since the girl was not carrying any gadget, it was difficult to trace her,” the DCP said.

The police team that questioned the parents learnt that the girl would often play an online game on their phones and was in touch with other players. “We checked all call records and analysed the game. The contact details of one of her friends was recovered. We contacted the friend who lives in Rajasthan and asked him about the girl’s whereabouts. He said she called him before leaving her house and took an auto to a temple near Sarojini Market,” DCP Guguloth said.

A team was sent to the spot but the girl could not be located. The police then learnt that the girl had contacted her friend again using another number. The new number was then put on surveillance and the girl’s location was traced to the gurudwara. A police team was sent there and the girl was found at 2.30 am.

According to the police, the girl first went to a temple and then to the gurdwara. She used the phone of a ‘sewadar’ (volunteer) to contact her friend in Rajasthan, the police said.

An enquiry revealed that the girl was upset with her mother and left the house after an altercation with her.