Expressing sharp dissatisfaction over a stalled investigation, the Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday issued a sweeping order summoning the current Superintendent of Police (SP) of Gumla and five of his predecessors. The officials, along with every investigating officer assigned to the case since 2018, are required to appear before the court on June 9 to explain the failure to locate a girl missing for six years.
The case centers on a girl from Khora village in the Gumla district who vanished in 2018 when she was just six years old. Despite the passage of more than half a decade and searches spanning multiple states, the minor remains untraced—a fact the court categorized as a failure of the investigative process.
The disappearance initially saw significant delays in formal legal action. Although the child went missing in 2018, an First Information Report (FIR) was not registered by her mother until 2020. Facing a lack of progress from local authorities, the mother eventually moved the High Court, filing a writ petition on September 19 last year to seek judicial intervention.
During the proceedings, the state government’s counsel admitted that police efforts have yet to yield any leads. While a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted and dispatched to various locations across the country—including Mumbai, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu—the girl’s whereabouts remain unknown.
The court’s decision to summon the high-ranking officers came after a thorough examination of the case diary. Addressing the current Gumla SP, the court questioned why a proper investigation had not been executed over the years.
The bench observed that the investigation conducted since 2018 was “not satisfactory,” prompting the order for all six SPs who have served in the district during this period to be present at the next hearing.
The appearance of such a large number of senior police officials is expected to bring intense scrutiny to the missing person protocols and the accountability of investigating officers in Jharkhand. The officials are scheduled to present themselves before the court on June 9.
