Delhi Police denies surge in missing girls, BJP alleges paid campaign to push film
Delhi Police has dismissed viral claims of a surge in missing girls, alleging paid promotion behind the panic after reports claimed a massive surge in missing people cases in the national capital in January.
Delhi Police on Thursday rejected reports suggesting a surge in cases of missing girls in the national capital, calling the claims misleading and driven by paid online promotion aimed at creating panic.
In a statement, the police said they had tracked the origin of the viral claims and found that the narrative around a sharp rise in missing girls was being amplified through sponsored posts.
"After following a few leads, we discovered that the hype around the surge in missing girls in Delhi is being pushed through paid promotion. Creating panic for monetary gains won't be tolerated, and we'll take strict action against such individuals," Delhi Police said in a post on X.
The clarification came after media reports, citing Delhi Police data, reported that 807 people went missing in the city between January 1 and January 15, 2026, averaging about 54 cases a day. Of these, 509 were women and girls and 298 were men. The data also stated that 191 of the missing persons were minors, while 616 were adults.
The same dataset claimed that between January 1 and January 27, police traced 235 individuals, while 572 remained untraced. On average, around 27 people were reported missing each day during the period, even as about nine were traced daily, the data claimed. It further said that 181 people, including 90 men and 91 women, had been located, while 435 adults were still unaccounted for.
While Delhi Police maintained that there has been no rise in missing persons cases compared to last year, it did not release updated figures. Joint Commissioner of Police (Public Relations) Sanjay Tyagi dismissed the reports as “rumours”, saying the trend remained in line with previous years.
He added that January 2026 had, in fact, seen a decline in reported cases.
CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE HINDI FILMS: BJP
The BJP responded to the reports after clarification from Delhi Police, saying that the paid campaign is being spread to promote a Hindi film.
"The claim that 'so many children have gone missing from Delhi' is being spread through a paid campaign to promote a Hindi film. The Delhi Police will obviously follow this up to its logical conclusion," BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya said in a post on X.
Several social media users linked Amit Malviya's reference of "a Hindi film" to the recent release of the Rani Mukherjee-starrer 'Mardaani 3', a movie portraying cases of missing girls in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has slammed the BJP-led Delhi government, saying it has turned the city into Lapataganj! (a city of missing people).
"The BJP has turned Delhi into Lapataganj! (a city of missing people). In the last 15 days, more than 800 people have gone missing in Delhi, the capital of India. 63% of them are girls and women," AAP said in a post on X.
The police also urged residents to remain calm but vigilant and avoid relying on unverified social media posts. Legal action, they warned, will be taken against anyone found spreading misinformation.
Delhi Police on Thursday rejected reports suggesting a surge in cases of missing girls in the national capital, calling the claims misleading and driven by paid online promotion aimed at creating panic.
In a statement, the police said they had tracked the origin of the viral claims and found that the narrative around a sharp rise in missing girls was being amplified through sponsored posts.
"After following a few leads, we discovered that the hype around the surge in missing girls in Delhi is being pushed through paid promotion. Creating panic for monetary gains won't be tolerated, and we'll take strict action against such individuals," Delhi Police said in a post on X.
The clarification came after media reports, citing Delhi Police data, reported that 807 people went missing in the city between January 1 and January 15, 2026, averaging about 54 cases a day. Of these, 509 were women and girls and 298 were men. The data also stated that 191 of the missing persons were minors, while 616 were adults.
The same dataset claimed that between January 1 and January 27, police traced 235 individuals, while 572 remained untraced. On average, around 27 people were reported missing each day during the period, even as about nine were traced daily, the data claimed. It further said that 181 people, including 90 men and 91 women, had been located, while 435 adults were still unaccounted for.
While Delhi Police maintained that there has been no rise in missing persons cases compared to last year, it did not release updated figures. Joint Commissioner of Police (Public Relations) Sanjay Tyagi dismissed the reports as “rumours”, saying the trend remained in line with previous years.
He added that January 2026 had, in fact, seen a decline in reported cases.
CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE HINDI FILMS: BJP
The BJP responded to the reports after clarification from Delhi Police, saying that the paid campaign is being spread to promote a Hindi film.
"The claim that 'so many children have gone missing from Delhi' is being spread through a paid campaign to promote a Hindi film. The Delhi Police will obviously follow this up to its logical conclusion," BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya said in a post on X.
Several social media users linked Amit Malviya's reference of "a Hindi film" to the recent release of the Rani Mukherjee-starrer 'Mardaani 3', a movie portraying cases of missing girls in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has slammed the BJP-led Delhi government, saying it has turned the city into Lapataganj! (a city of missing people).
"The BJP has turned Delhi into Lapataganj! (a city of missing people). In the last 15 days, more than 800 people have gone missing in Delhi, the capital of India. 63% of them are girls and women," AAP said in a post on X.
The police also urged residents to remain calm but vigilant and avoid relying on unverified social media posts. Legal action, they warned, will be taken against anyone found spreading misinformation.