PTI By

JAIPUR/KOTA: The Rajasthan High Court has issued notice to the state Advocate General expressing concern over missing children in Dadabari, Gumanpura and Jhawarnagar areas of Kota.

A bench, comprising Justice Naveen Sinha and Justice Ajay Rastogi, issued the notices seeking detailed report in the matter by the first week of September this year.

The High Court delivered the direction on Wednesday while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Kota resident Prahlad Singh Chadda.

Chadda had on May 7 filed the PIL on the missing children from Dadabari, Jhawarnagar and Gumanpura police station areas of Kota city, said Kuldeep Aswal, counselor of the petitioner at Rajasthan High Court, Jaipur.

Chadda had filed an RTI query in 2015 and according to the information given by the police 397 minor girls and boys from Gumanpura, 411 from Dadabari and 97 from Jhawarnagar areas had gone missing from 2005 to 2015, Aswal said.

According to RTI information, total 411 minor girls have gone missing from these three police station areas. However, 160 girls returned home, while altogether 745 children are still missing, he said.

The HC bench directed that notices be served to Principal Secretary of Home Ministry, DGP Manoj Bhatt, Kota IG Vishal Bansal and Kota SP Swai Singh Godara asking them to produce detailed report on the matter by the first week of September, Aswal said.

When contacted, Chadda, the petitioner said he had earlier spoken to the police officials for action to trace the missing children but they did not respond satisfactorily. One of the top police officials even went on to say "what happened if 750 children go missing out of the population of lakhs", Chadda told PTI in Kota.

A writ petition over the issue was filed in the case by him on May 7, he said.

Chadda said he suspected a gang of human trafficking behind the children going missing.