Ranchi, July 2 (IANS) The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday impleaded the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a respondent in the case of a minor girl who has been missing from Bokaro district for the past six years and directed it to participate in the investigation.

Hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the girl’s mother, Usha Jha, a division bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad asked the CBI and the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) to carry forward the probe in close coordination.

The court also directed the CBI to extend technical assistance and investigative support to the CID, leveraging its expertise and resources to help trace the missing girl at the earliest.

The court formally made the CBI a party to the case after informing Additional Solicitor General Prashant Pallav. The next hearing has been scheduled for July 27.

During the hearing, the CID informed the court that an e-KYC facial matching exercise had identified a girl in Bihar’s Gopalganj whose face matched that of the missing Bokaro teenager by nearly 90 per cent. However, her identity could not be confirmed as fingerprint records and other identification details did not match.

Emphasising the need for greater use of scientific and technological tools in the investigation, the bench referred to a case from Pune and directed the investigating agencies to utilise GAIT software in the probe.

The court also observed that despite the case having been handed over to the CID, the investigation had largely remained confined to the findings and groundwork carried out earlier by the state police. It noted that the technical expertise of a central agency could prove crucial in locating the missing girl.

The case pertains to the Pindrajora police station area of Bokaro district. The 14-year-old girl has been missing since October 16, 2020. A supervision report prepared after the registration of the FIR had treated the case as one of abduction.

The girl’s bicycle, slippers, and books were recovered from near the place where she was last seen. With no significant breakthrough emerging over the years, her family approached the High Court seeking intervention.

Advocate General Rohitashya Roy appeared on behalf of the state government during Thursday’s hearing, while advocates Vincent Rohit Marandi and Ritu Nanda represented the petitioner.

Senior CID officials, including the ADG and members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), were also present in court during the hearing.

–IANS

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