The Jharkhand High Court has ordered the state government to detail the actions taken against senior police officers and investigators responsible for the delayed probe into the 2018 disappearance of a six-year-old girl in Gumla district.
During a habeas corpus hearing on Thursday, a division bench comprising Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Sanjay Prasad directed the state to submit accountability reports regarding the Superintendents of Police (SPs) and investigating officers stationed in Gumla between 2018 and 2022. The court also ordered the state to place on record the findings of an upcoming narco analysis test of the prime suspect, scheduling the next hearing for August 17.
Scheduled Forensic Testing in Gujarat
State counsel informed the bench that the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Gumla has authorized a narco analysis test for the main accused, Sukhmani Urain. The Directorate of Forensic Sciences in Gujarat is scheduled to conduct the examination between August 3 and August 11.
A specialized police escort team will accompany the accused to Gujarat for the procedure, according to the state’s submission.
Years of Investigative Inaction
The matter originates from Khora village in Gumla, where the petitioner’s six-year-old daughter went missing in September 2018. Although the family registered a First Information Report (FIR) in 2019, the police made no notable progress, and the child remained untraced.
Official documents reveal that an active investigation into the disappearance did not commence until 2022, marking a multi-year gap from the time the case was officially reported.
Suspected Human Trafficking
In September 2025, the child’s mother, Chandramuni Urain, approached the high court with a habeas corpus petition. In her plea, Urain expressed apprehension that her daughter may have been targeted by human traffickers, prompting the high court’s intervention and subsequent scrutiny of local law enforcement’s handling of the case.
