The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Delhi Police commissioner and the Gurugram police to file affidavits explaining why the body of missing Delhi realtor Yuvraj Singh Manchanda was cremated despite lack of identification.
Police have arrested Anya Vats and her husband Sanyam Sachdeva as accused in the case and the matter is currently under investigation.
During the hearing, senior advocate Mukta Gupta, who is chairperson of the committee constituted in relation to human trafficking, informed the top court that pursuant to the observations made by it, she has taken instructions regarding an incident in which a person from Delhi had gone missing. “The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, is directed to put in place an all-India grid connecting each and every police station in the country on one platform, which will have a special portal dedicated to human trafficking, including missing children and women. “The concerned police stations are directed to immediately institute FIR the moment any information reaches them with regard to any person missing, without waiting for a preliminary inquiry or leaving it to the guardians of the missing persons…
Manchanda’s body was found dumped in a Gurugram drain by Haryana Police on September 10, but the family was informed only on September 16. Noting that 47,000 children remain untraced in India as on date, the top court on May 22 had directed police authorities across the country to immediately register FIRs in cases of missing persons and said the anti-human trafficking units should be made fully functional within four weeks. The said FIR shall mandatorily incorporate the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, relating to kidnapping/trafficking,” the bench had said.
Issuing a slew of directions, it had expressed displeasure over the rise in the number of cases of missing children and said they are often victims of organised inter-state trafficking syndicates.
The top court had earlier clarified that its order directing states and Union territories to immediately register FIRs in cases of missing persons applies to every person, irrespective of age or gender.
