MADURAI: CLUES, though insignificant, are very crucial in an investigation. And, a special team, formed to track a missing 4-year-old girl, testifies this, as they managed to crack the case recently, following the leads. Addressing media persons, Deputy Commissioner (Law and Order) V Sasi Mohan, on Tuesday, said, the girl Pavithra, daughter of Vanavarayan and Sivakami who earn a living by selling beads and trinklets, went missing from the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) on May 19.
Though the parents have lodged a child-missing complaint on May 22, all the efforts of police went in vain as the girl remained untraced. “It’s at this juncture that the police got a clue about a gang, and acting on the clue, they managed to bust a five-member gang that had kidnapped the girl and later sold the child to a childless couple,” said Mohan. The deputy commissioner said, the girl was kidnapped when she was playing on the GRH premises. “The gang took her to Srivilliputhur in Virudhunagar district. Based on a tip-off, the special team, that includes sleuths from the Anti-Child Trafficking Unit of the Mathichiyam police, questioned one P Meena (36) of Raitanpatti village in Virudhunagar.
However, she could not be found but her minor son confessed that his mother, along with one Janani (21) and himself, had kidnapped the girl,” he said. Meena’s son also revealed that the girl was later handed over to a childless couple, S Ramar (35) and Sermathangam (30) of Sambavarvadakarai in Tenkasi, within 10 days with the help of one M Samuthiram (81) of Srivilliputhur and P Ponnuthayee (69) of Sambavarvadakarai. “They sold the girl to the couple for `1.20 lakh,” said Mohan. He further said, it appeared that the gang was not involved in any other child kidnapping cases, though it was too early to comment on it. The police are still interrogating the couple, he said. “Preliminary investigations pointed towards abduction.
The mobile tower tracking and previous records of child racketeers helped the police crack the case. The police are continuing their investigation to track all eight child missing cases reported from the city,” said Mohan who handed over a cracker box and sweets to the girl’s family members during the press meet. Speaking to Express, mother of the girl V Sivakami (24) of Kallmedu said, when she was selling trinkets, the gang came and attempted to take the girl stating that they wanted to buy her paruthi paal (cotton seed milk). However, at that time, her father prevented them. “However, within a few minutes, we found the girl missing again,” she said. The couple Sivakami and Vanavarayan has three children, including a boy.