Despite two failed Bihar searches and no technical clues, investigators revived the case by tracing borrowed mobile logins, triggering rapid movements across Assam and TN
Oshiwara police traced the missing girl after detecting her Instagram activity. Representation pic/iStock
A 17-year-old girl missing from Jogeshwari West for nearly eight months was finally traced after Oshiwara police cracked a digital clue — she had been secretly accessing Instagram using borrowed mobile phones — triggering a dramatic three-state chase that ended near a railway station in Assam.
The teenager had gone missing in May 2025. Despite sustained efforts, including inter-state inquiries and two fruitless trips to Bihar, investigators found no physical or technical leads, and the case had gone cold.
The breakthrough came when officers revisited the girl’s social circle and discovered that although she did not own a phone, she was logging into Instagram through borrowed devices. After tracing her Instagram ID, the linked mobile numbers were placed under technical surveillance.
Initial location data showed movement in Assam before the phone went silent for several weeks. In late December, a brief activation revived the trail, prompting a team to rush to Assam. When that lead fizzled out, another sudden location ping surfaced near Tiruvallur, close to Chennai, forcing the officers to pivot overnight to Tamil Nadu for two days of intensive searches.
Fresh technical inputs and renewed Instagram activity eventually pointed police back to Assam — this time to Lumding, a sensitive railway town. Coordinating with local police, the team traced the girl near Lumding railway station, where she was found alone.
She was taken to the local police station with the assistance of a woman constable and later produced before the Child Welfare Committee, which ordered her placement at a One Stop Centre (OSC), also known as Sakhi, for care and protection.
Senior officers said the case underscores how fleeting digital footprints and social media activity can revive long-stalled missing-person investigations when conventional leads run dry.
May 2025
Month ever since the 17-year-old girl was missing
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