CUTTACK: Expressing strong displeasure over the slow progress in tracing of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl allegedly kidnapped from near a hotel in Puri in December 2023, the Orissa High Court has directed the district SP to personally monitor the probe by forming a Special Task Force (STF).
In an order dated February 23, a division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice MS Raman remarked, “It is a sordid state of affair that since 2023, the instant writ petition in the nature of habeas corpus is pending before this Court and despite several directions having passed from time to time, the minor girl, who is allegedly kidnapped, is not able to be rescued.”
Taking serious note of the lack of breakthrough, the court directed the Puri SP to personally monitor the investigation by constituting the STF. The STF must be formed within a week and the SP should review the steps taken and issue necessary directions as warranted, the bench said.
The court observed that the petition filed in the matter by the girl’s father has remained pending for over two years without result. The SP was also asked to file a progress report covering the period until the next hearing, scheduled for March 16, 2026.
The earlier orders had directed the investigating team to rescue the girl or ascertain her whereabouts. However, the bench noted that no positive results had emerged so far. On the previous date of hearing, police had informed the court that a girl had been rescued by the Airfield Police Station in Bhubaneswar but she was later identified as someone else and not the petitioner’s daughter.
The court underscored that the child’s welfare was paramount and warned against any laxity in the investigation. “We are concerned with the welfare of the child and no complacency can be shown in this regard,” the bench observed.
According to case records, the child was allegedly kidnapped while her mother was selling tender coconuts outside a hotel in December 2023. Despite CCTV footage and the circulation of the child’s photograph, the investigation has made limited headway.