Officers from the DB Marg Police managed to locate and reunite 22 lost children with their anxious parents during the festive Ganesh visarjan celebrations at Girgaon Chowpatty.
Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Suryakant Sathey and Constable Deepali Kandalkar were assigned the noble task of finding missing children amid the crowds at the beach. Senior Police Inspector Vinayak Ghorpade of DB Marg Police commended their relentless efforts, explaining how they collaborated to ensure the safe return of these children to their families.
Constable Deepali diligently made periodic announcements about the missing children, acting as a beacon of hope for worried parents, while ASI Suryakant embarked on a thorough search of the beach, identifying children who were alone and frightened.
Kandalkar recounted the numerous people who approached them, sharing information about crying or disoriented children. “After identifying the missing children, we escorted them to the police station. Many of them were understandably frightened. We tried our best to comfort them, providing nourishment and hydration,” she said.
The police officers encouraged the children to provide contact information for their parents. However, many of the children were unable to do so. In such cases, the officers generously offered their mobile phones to the children, allowing them to make direct calls to their parents. Kandalkar added a touching anecdote about a young girl who dialed several wrong numbers before, on her seventh attempt, recalling her father’s contact information.
ASI Sathey described the challenges they faced in tracing the parents, as most of the children were between the ages of three and 14 and had only minimal information to offer. Sathey highlighted a case involving a young girl who couldn’t provide any contact details or address. “We took her photograph and circulated it, ultimately reuniting her with her uncle on the beach,” he explained.
A three-year-old boy who repeatedly mentioned that he lived near a Ganesh pandal in Nagpada. Kandalkar shared how they took the boy to the said pandal and successfully located his family.
