Kidnapped girl rescued within 18 hours, accused held

Panipat police rescued a nine-year-old girl and arrested her kidnapper within 18 hours of the incident. The accused, identified as Joginder of Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, was nabbed from Ludhiana, Punjab, on Saturday. He will be produced in court on Sunday.

DSP Headquarters Satish Vats said the child’s father, a native of Ayodhya district and currently residing in a rented accommodation under Old Industrial Police Station limits, reported his daughter missing on August 15 afternoon. The family had been living in the village for the past two months, with both parents employed in a factory.

Acting swiftly on the complaint, SP Bhupender Singh assigned the case to SI Sandeep, In-charge of CIA-1, who launched a search operation. The team scanned footage from over 50 CCTV cameras across bus stands, railway stations and toll plazas. One crucial clip showed the accused taking the girl in an e-rickshaw and later escorting her on foot.

Based on the trail, the joint police team tracked the movement to Ludhiana and successfully recovered the child, arresting Joginder in the process. Preliminary probe revealed that the accused lured the girl with eatables. — TNS