Bengaluru Police Trace 258 Missing Children Since March via Namma 112

Girinagar in Bengaluru saw a swift police response last Sunday after two children reported missing from 50 Feet Road were safely located on the terrace of a neighbouring commercial building within minutes. The rescue is part of a broader effort by the city's Namma 112 emergency response network, which has received 302 missing-child complaints since March and successfully traced 258 children.

In Sunday's incident, a resident called the Namma 112 emergency helpline at around 7:14 pm after his granddaughter and a neighbour's boy went missing while playing outside. An alert was immediately dispatched to ASI Manjunath N and Head Constable Thippeswamy, who were patrolling the area in Hoysala-161. The team arrived at the scene within four minutes and began questioning local shopkeepers and residents.

During the search, the owner of an adjacent commercial building mentioned that the property's water supply had been turning on and off repeatedly over the preceding minutes. Suspecting the children might be inside, the officers asked the owner to turn on the water and searched the premises. They found the two children on the terrace playing with water pipes and safely reunited them with their families.

According to police officials, missing-child complaints are treated as high-priority emergencies, with patrol teams immediately gathering photographs, clothing details, and last-known locations. Out of the 258 children traced since March, 12 returned home on their own before officers arrived, having stepped out to nearby shops or neighbours' houses. Additionally, 44 calls turned out to be false alarms, often caused by miscommunication or children being found before police arrived.

Most missing children are located within 10 to 30 minutes, though searches in suspected abduction cases or incidents where children travel further can extend across days.

Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh stressed that parents should not delay calling emergency services. Singh noted that parents often spend critical initial hours searching on their own or calling relatives before notifying authorities. He emphasised that reporting immediately keeps the search radius small and allows police to gather fresh witness accounts before trails go cold.