A Father’s Relief, A Team’s Triumph: How police tracked down a missing mentally challenged man across state lines

New Delhi: On the night of May 24, Shivam Soni (29), who is battling severe mental health challenges, slipped out of his house in Keshav Puram and did not return. The next morning, the Soni household woke up to the reality that their son was missing.

The world does not stop when a vulnerable soul wanders out into the darkness. But when Shivam’s elderly father went to the Keshav Puram police station and narrated what had happened, the cops listened, and then started working with urgency.

Inspector Rajeev’s team refused to treat Shivam as just another case of a missing person. They knew that for a young man with Shivam’s condition -- he relied on specialised treatment from IHBAS Hospital -- time was a luxury they did not have.

The police started scanning CCTV monitors, tracing the digital breadcrumb trail of the man. They watched footage that showed Shivam walking aimlessly, navigating 5 km in the busy Ring Road traffic toward Dhaula Kuan.

As the hours ticked away, the search became a race against time. Wireless messages crackled across state lines, and Shivam’s photograph was shown to hospitals, shelters and gurdwaras.

The breakthrough came on May 27. Nearly 40 km away, in Gurgaon’s Sohna City, Shivam was traced. He was exhausted, disoriented, and alive.

The Keshav Puram police team went to the area. After nearly three days of search, their work had yielded the result. They hadn’t just secured a missing person. They had shielded a fragile life.

When Shivam’s elderly father saw his son walk through the police station door unharmed, the weight of the tension found a release in tears.

The elderly man wept, his hands trembling as he thanked the officers who had treated his son’s life as dearly as their own.

In a world often desensitised by chaos, the team at Keshav Puram police station had shown how to stand by the people they serve.