Faded photos to reunions: 2 Delhi cops track down 223 kids

NEW DELHI: For ASI Nirdesh Panwar and ASI Rajdeep, the gaze into their own children's eyes is the north star that guides their tireless pursuit of reuniting once missing kids with their families.
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Over the last 11 months, this drive has led them to reunite 223 missing children with their families. They travelled to other cities and states to bridge gaps that sometimes spanned years.
Their work involved over 70 police stations in Delhi and has taken them to corners of Jammu, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana. Often, all that they had was a faded photograph, a name, a case gone cold.
But by following faint digital footprints, knocking on doors, and stitching together stories from scraps, they brought the children home.
Their consistent record earned them out-of-turn promotions, a recognition of their perseverance. Formerly head constables, and now assistant sub-inspectors, Rajdeep (35) and Nirdesh Panwar (38), of the anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU) have each rescued over 100 children - Rajdeep has rescued 112 and Panwar 111.
"These officers were promoted out of turn as a recognition for their consistent work and the large number of successful recoveries," DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Priya Gautam said.
Their day begins at 6am with the scan of the national databases like CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems) and ZIPNET (Zonal Integrated Police Network) for fresh reports and long-pending cases.
Once a case is shortlisted, the officers contact the investigating officer and the family.
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Even that isn't easy always. "In many cases, phone numbers in FIRs are inactive, or the family has moved. Sometimes, there's not even a recent photo of the missing child," ASI Panwar said. "Language becomes a barrier too, especially when we travel to other states."
Once contact is established, the officers conduct home visits to understand the child's last known movements, their environment, behaviour patterns, and any underlying causes of disappearance.
From there, the tracking begins, involving Call Detail Record (CDR) analysis, deep dives into social media activity, and extensive reviews of CCTV footage.
In the case of teenagers, a tagged location or a background in a photo on social media might offer the first clue. The two walk door to door with a photo, ask around, coordinate with local police, and check with shelter homes and NGOs.
When digital leads dry up, the job becomes painstaking.
"We've reviewed footage from over 200 cameras in some cases. Sometimes, you're looking for a moment, a movement that's barely visible. But that's all you need," ASI Rajdeep said. "The payoff is indescribable. That moment when a parent sees the child again, it makes every hour worth it."
Each case brings its own challenges. "Some children have been missing for weeks, others for years. Some left home by choice. Others may have been trafficked or abducted.
We can't assume anything. We have to approach every case with care. At times, the breakthrough is quick. Many take days and months to crack," he added.
The case of a missing 14-year-old girl took them to Jammu and Kashmir after they managed to find out that the girl boarded a train at New Delhi Railway Station. "We immediately boarded a train to Jammu at 9.30pm and started our search after reaching there at 7am. We were lucky as the girl was luckily found sitting alone on a bench at one corner of the station.
She was brought back the same day and reunited with her parents.
Another challenging case was of a girl who was missing from the MS Park area in 2017. She was just 15 then. "For years, there were no leads. The family had long lost hope. This year, we traced her to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh after following some electronic leads. She is 22 now," ASI Rajdeep said.

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