VIJAYAWADA: The High Court on Monday directed Director General of Police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta to file a detailed affidavit explaining the steps taken to trace a 15-year-old minor girl allegedly kidnapped by Sheikh Jan Saida and the action taken against those who sheltered or assisted them.
A division bench comprising Justice Ravinath Tilhari and Justice Alapati Girdhar directed the police to explain where the accused and the girl had stayed during the period and who had helped the accused take her away. The court observed that kidnapping a minor girl was not a trivial matter.
The bench questioned how lodges provided rooms to the accused despite knowing that the girl was a minor. It sought details of action taken against persons who allegedly violated legal provisions and directed the DGP to place all information before the HC. The hearing was adjourned by two weeks.
The police produced the girl before the court after tracing her along with the accused in Karnal, Haryana. The girl’s father, a resident of Guntur city, had lodged a complaint with Pattabhipuram police on June 9, stating that his Class X daughter had gone for tuition and failed to return. He alleged that Jan Saida had befriended and trapped her through Instagram before taking her away.
Police failed to trace the girl for three months, prompting her father to approach the HC through a habeas corpus petition. An earlier Division Bench criticised the investigation and warned of summoning the DGP. Following the petition, the DGP constituted a SIT.
Special Government Pleader T Vishnu Teja informed the HC that Jan Saida and the girl had been traced in Karnal. Cases under the POCSO Act, kidnapping and others were registered against him. His mother and sister were also accused of allegedly assisting in the kidnapping.
The girl told the Bench that she wanted to return home with her father. The court directed police to make necessary arrangements and advised the father to cooperate with her medical examination.