Ranchi, Jan 12 (PTI) Jharkhand Police on Monday said it has alerted around 17,000 police stations across the country to trace two missing siblings from Ranchi and announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for information about them.
The two kids, Ansh Kumar (5) and Anshika Kumari (4), went missing on January 2 after they had gone to a grocery store.
SP (City) Paras Rana told PTI that police have issued a notice to as many as 17,000 police stations across the country to trace the two kids.
"We have also increased the reward amount from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh for information about the two missing siblings," Rana said.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annapurna Devi on Monday met the family members of the missing children and also spoke to DGP Tadasha Mishra over the phone to discuss the issue.
She urged the DGP to recover the children safely at the earliest.
She also spoke to Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and informed him about the incident.
RJD leader Kailash Yadav, the chief coordinator of the Save Ansh-Anshika Struggle Samiti, said, "We held a meeting and formed a special 11-member committee, which decided that if the children are not safely returned by January 15, a major agitation will be announced."
On Sunday, Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth met the family members and assured them of every possible support.
He stated that the people of Jharkhand are grieving and deeply worried about both the children, and that all efforts are underway to safely bring them back.
"I have personally spoken to Governor Santosh Gangwar and Chief Minister Hemant Soren about the incident," Seth said.
Meanwhile, Additional Director General of Police (Ranchi Zonal IG) Manoj Kaushik on Monday held a detailed review meeting with officers of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to trace two missing children.
During the meeting, Kaushik also appealed for collaboration with NGO workers from 439 districts across 20 states, including the 'Bachpan Bachao Andolan run by Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, as well as child welfare activists, to assist in the search and recovery of the missing children.