Four missing minor girls traced to Ludhiana

Tribune News Service

Mohali, February 21

Six days after four minor girls had gone missing from Mataur, the Mohali police today recovered them from Ludhiana. Two youths with whom the victims had allegedly left were also arrested on kidnapping charges.

The girls have been identified as Pinki (14), Rishu Kumar (15), Babita Kumar (13) and Pooja (13). While Babita and Pinki are students of a government school in Mataur, the other two minors worked as domestic help.

On the complaint of the victims’ family members, the police had booked Ravi (20) and Manpreet (22) for kidnapping the minors.

Inspector Jarnail Singh, SHO, Mataur police station, said the location of the girls was traced after one of the girls had placed a call to her relatives. The girls went to Ludhiana along with the youths in a bus.

The SHO said the minors had sublet a room at a local guest house in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Ludhiana, and had been staying there for the past six days with two youths.

“A police party was sent to rescue the girls and is on its way back to Mohali. Medical examination of minors will be conducted once they return,” said Jarnail Singh.

The police said the accused claimed that they had eloped with girls on the pretext of marrying them. A police official said: “The accused claimed to be in a relationship with two minors and had escaped to get married.”

According to police sources, Rishu had called an acquaintance from a mobile phone late on Friday night informing that she had reached an unknown destination far away from Mohali and would not return. The mobile number was traced to one of the suspects and their location was tracked.

The minor girls were reportedly friends and stayed in proximity of each other at a rented accommodation in Mataur village.