Recovered in Chandigarh, minor girls who went missing in Khanna hesitant to return home

Three minor girls of two migrant labourer families, who had gone missing from Ahluwalia Colony of Galvaddi area on Sunday afternoon, have been recovered safely by volunteers of NGOs at Chandigarh. The Khanna police, who are investigating a case registered against unknown persons for allegedly abducting the trio, are yet to ascertain the sequence of events leading to their mysterious disappearance. Preliminary findings reveal that even after being traced by NGOs, the girls had shown reluctance over returning to their homes.

Advertisement

"We don’t have any parents," the younger girls (aged 8 and 11), led by their teenaged ‘guide’ girl (13) had told the volunteers of a Chandigarh-based NGO on Thursday evening.

“Though we are yet to ascertain details about their movement from their homes to Chandigarh, volunteers of the NGOs taking care of them currently informed us that the girls were hesitant about returning to their homes, saying their parents had died a long time ago,” said DSP Amritpal Singh Bhatti.

He had been monitoring the coordinated rescue operation being undertaken by the local police, CIA Wing, Special Branch and technical teams under the supervision of Khanna SSP Jyoti Yadav since the registration of case on Monday.

The Khanna police had received the complaint about the disappearance of the minors, including two sisters, from their homes a day earlier on Sunday during the absence of their parents.

DSP Bhatti said sniffer dogs and drones had also been used to rule out presence of girls at odd places, including rooftops and fields.