India, Feb. 7 -- H as the fear of "increased kidnappings" gripped you after WhatsApp messages and social posts claiming a sudden surge in missing persons in Delhi surfaced? Fear not, say Delhi Police. On Friday, Delhi Police slammed the "hype around the surge in missing girls in Delhi", calling it "paid promotions" in a post on their official X handle. Joint Commissioner and PRO of Delhi Police Sanjay Tyagi tells HT City that "there is no abnormal spike". On Thursday, Delhi Police also released data showing a 2% drop in missing persons cases since last year. "This data is routinely reported every year... We need to contextualise it. And this number (807 in the first fortnight of 2026) doesn't factor in the people who have been reunited with their families. In 2025, out of 24,508 missing persons reported, 15,421 had been traced," says another Delhi Police officer. Meanwhile, their 'paid campaign' claim has set conjectures flying over who might be orchestrating it. BJP's IT head Amit Malviya called it a Hindi film's paid campaign, and many related it to the recently released Mardaani 3, which is based on the same theme. However, the film's producer Yash Raj Films has strongly denied it (see box)....