The incident happened in 2008 and it was the first missing case Khambe had handled.

In the past four-and-a-half years, the police officer has managed to trace 165 missing people.

A father of two daughters and a son, Khambe claims that it was his first missing case in 2008 in which he reunited the two-year-old boy with his parents that inspired him to work towards tracing missing persons.

“The boy had gone missing from Sewri and a case was lodged at RAK Marg police station. As I was posted there, I started working on it and after four months, I managed to trace the boy at a children’s home in Bhiwadi,” says Khambe.

“It was raining very heavily but after seeing each other, the mother and son ran towards each other and hugged for a long time. That image is still in my memory,” Khambe recollects.

The police officer says that it is his promptness in sticking missing posters at railway stations and bus stops that has helped him over the years.

“Someone or the other notices the picture of the person in the poster and dials my number,” he adds.

Recalling an instance of a 78-year-old woman who got lost at Dadar railway station on 4 June 2021, Khambe says that soon after the matter was reported at Matunga police station, he stuck her pictures across the railways stations in Mumbai and neighbouring districts.

“She was travelling with her grandson and while crossing the road she lost hold of his hand and got lost. She then asked a passerby woman to help her reach Kalyan. It was that passenger who tipped us off on 16 June 2021 after seeing the posters,” said Khambe.

The 57-year-old policeman claims that since solving his first missing complaint in 2008, he had always wanted to work in the team of missing persons bureau of the police station. Apart from RAK Marg and Matunga police station, Khambe was posted at Vikhroli and Navghar police stations but he did not get an opportunity of working with the missing persons bureau’s team due to lack of vacancy.

However, in August 2018, Khambe got posted at Matunga police station where he there was a position available in the missing persons bureau following which he started working there.

In the last four-and-a-half years, since being posted at Matunga, Khambe said that he has located 60 men, 47 women and 33 minors. The remaining 25 whom Khmabe has traced were in cases lodged at police stations in other districts and states.

In another case, where three girls had gone missing from a children’s home in Matunga, Khambe says that he was on leave then but owing to his experience in tracing missing persons, he was asked to join work on an urgent basis.

“The girls were orphans. After getting in touch with an ample amount of informers, we finally managed to trace them at Govandi, Cuffe Parade and Dongri,” he said.

Khambe who joined the force in 1987 is set to retire in June this year. He says, “Before I retire I hope, I can trace more such missing individuals because it gives me immense happiness after seeing them reunited and these are memories that I will spend my retirement life with.”