AP: Free WiFi Helps Police To Locate Missing Polytechnic Student
Following directions from the SP, five special teams were formed to trace the missing student. The teams searched for her for 12 days, as Harika took off the SIM card from her phone for she did not want to be found by the cops
Visakhapatnam: Using modern digital tracking technology, the Parvathipuram Manyam police traced a missing polytechnic student through tracking her free WiFi usage and social media activity and brought her safely back home.
Harika, a polytechnic student from the district, left home on November 7 after her mother scolded her. She disappeared after telling her family she was going for an exam. The parents filed a complaint at Manyam PS.
SP Madhav Reddy formed five teams to locate the missing student.
"Harika had removed the SIM card from her mobile phone to avoid call-tracing. She boarded the Guwahati Express to Bengaluru. Through WiFi tracking, we found she boarded the train in Vizianagaram," the SP explained.
The breakthrough came when the cybercrime team found Harika active on Instagram. “Then we contacted her uncle Manoj, who lives in Bengaluru, and asked him to message her on the platform.”
“She responded after two days. We advised the uncle to send a tracking link. Once she clicked it, our team traced her location at Bengaluru railway station.”
“We immediately alerted the Bengaluru RPF, which promptly detained her. A team from Parvathipuram Manyam then traveled to bring her back home,” the SP explained.