Ranchi: Jharkhand high court on Monday set a deadline of two weeks for the state govt to provide information about a minor girl from Gumla district, who has been missing since Sept 2018.The court also cautioned that the case may be handed over to CBI for further investigation if there are no fruitful results.A division bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Sanjay Prasad gave the direction while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Chandramuni Urain, whose daughter went missing in 2018.The bench observed that in spite of seven years of investigation by the police, whereabouts of the girl, who was then aged six years, are yet to be ascertained. The court also questioned the Gumla superintendent of police about the status of investigation and expressed its dissatisfaction over the tardy pace of probe.Earlier, the court was informed that a special investigation team was formed and it had gone to Delhi to locate the missing girl. However, despite trying their best, the SIT members have failed to trace the girl so far.Pictures of the girl had been circulated and uploaded on various portals by the police, but to no avail.The court was also informed that during the course of investigation, the police was successful in finding nine other missing children from different parts of the state.In a similar case, the high court had criticised state police while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the mother of another girl from Bokaro district. The 18-year-old girl went missing near Chas College under Pindrajora police station limits in July 2025 but the police had allegedly kept delaying the probe.Her mother moved the high court earlier this year accusing Bokaro police of laxity in investigation. After the court expressed dissatisfaction with the probe, Bokaro police last week claimed to have solved the case by recovering a skeleton and also arresting the victim’s ex-boyfriend for allegedly murdering her. The court, however, later questioned whether the skeleton recovered was of the girl and directed to conduct a DNA probe. The process is currently underway.Earlier, the court was informed that a special investigation team was formed and it had gone to Delhi to locate the missing girl. However, despite trying their best, the SIT members have failed to trace the girl so far
