Deep concerns over child trafficking and nomadic oversight gripped the Jharkhand High Court as it tackled the eight-year mystery of a missing Gumla girl. The habeas corpus petition by mother Chandramuni Urain, filed in 2018, returned to the spotlight on Wednesday before Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and AK Rai, who summoned the Home Secretary online for January 27.
The Gumla SP detailed a revived SIT effort—Delhi investigations, widespread photo distributions—but admitted failure in locating the child. This revelation fueled the court’s outrage at unregulated migrant communities camping across Jharkhand without scrutiny.
Highlighting recent Gulguliya gang links to abductions, the bench decried absent protocols: no Aadhaar checks, no police patrols, no state frameworks. ‘Criminal elements hide in plain sight,’ the judges warned, calling for urgent guidelines to dismantle active trafficking webs plaguing the region.
Years of family appeals ignored by police propelled the case to court. With the government side led by Deputy Advocate General Sachin Kumar, the hearing emphasized that child disappearances warrant top-priority, iron-fisted responses and policy reforms to protect the innocent.