HC Orders Mumbai Police to Form Team to Find Chembur Youth Missing for 18 Months
The Bombay High Court has reprimanded the Mumbai Police for their lack of progress in tracing a young man who has been missing for over 18 months. During a court hearing on July 16, the bench ordered the police to form a dedicated investigation team to handle the case, which was originally registered at the RCF Police Station in Chembur.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad was hearing a petition filed by Pyaremiyan Qureshi, the father of the missing youth. According to the petition, the youth has been missing since January 11, 2025, when a missing complaint was first lodged in Chembur. The petitioner alleged that despite repeated follow-ups, the police investigation had made no meaningful progress.
Expressing concern over the delay, the high court questioned why the police had not publicized the missing youth's photograph in print or electronic media. When the prosecutor confirmed that no advertisements had been issued, the bench criticized the department's handling of the case, noting that they compare themselves to Interpol but did not know how to place media advertisements.
The court observed that missing person cases require focused attention that busy station officers cannot always provide. The bench pointed out that a general investigating officer is often handling multiple murder and assault cases simultaneously, leaving little time to search for a missing young boy.
During the hearing, the petitioner's advocate, M.A. Khan, urged the court to transfer the probe to another agency or a senior officer. Khan stated that the family had been waiting for over one-and-a-half years and was losing hope, adding that the police repeatedly asked the family for clues instead of conducting the investigation themselves.
Additional Public Prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh requested more time from the court, stating that information needed to be circulated outside Maharashtra and that senior officers would look into the matter. She assured the court that a dedicated team of officers would be formed to investigate the disappearance.
The bench directed Qureshi to produce fresh photographs of his son and details of the family's domicile in Uttar Pradesh so that the police can publish the images in newspapers and electronic media in their home state. The high court will hear the matter again next week.
