UP recorded 3,641 missing kids in 2006

Lucknow: It was not only in Nithari that children went missing. As many as 3,641 children were officially reported missing in Uttar Pradesh in 2006.

While 712 of these children were still untraced, cops had recovered the bodies of 83 kids, mostly believed to have been killed.

Police had undertaken the task of monitoring missing children following an Allahabad High Court direction in the wake of the serial killings of around 20 children in Nithari slum near Noida.

"As many as 3,641 complaints of missing children (under 18 years of age) were received by the police in different parts of India's most populous state," state's Inspector General of Police (crime) Praveen Singh said.

He, however, claimed that most of the kids were accounted for and restored to their kin. "As many as 2,854 children have been returned to their homes, 83 found dead while 712 remain to be traced", Singh added.

According to official records, Meerut recorded 848 missing children, followed by Kanpur (806), Lucknow (767), Varanasi (510), Bareilly (285), Gorakhpur (282), Allahabad (143). It is also reported that 16 children were missing from different railway stations in the state.

"A detailed account of these children has been filed before the high court," Singh said.

Of the missing children, 2,751 were boys and 898 girls, mostly in the 10-18 years age group. While 488 belonged to 5-10 years, only 145 were under five years.

According to Singh, a major plan has been drawn up to tackle the problem of missing kids in the state.

"We have directed all police stations across the state to maintain regular records of all missing children, which would be monitored at zonal levels by officers in the rank of inspector-general," he added.

A plan for launching a website for direct registration of missing children was also under consideration.