THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state breathed a sigh of relief as the two-year-old daughter of a Bihari vagabond couple, who had gone missing in the wee hours of Monday while sleeping with her family in the street near Chakkai, was found safe after an extensive search and rescue operation that lasted for more than 17 hours.
The child was found lying in an unconscious state in a drain behind the Brahmos Aerospace campus.
Deputy commissioner Nidhinraj P said the child was found lying in an unconscious state in the drain, which is located within one kilometre from the spot where she had gone missing.
The child’s family had migrated to Hyderabad and they reached the state capital to sell honey. The family has been staying in a tent close to the railway track in the vicinity of All Saints College. The family went to sleep by 10pm on Sunday and it was by 12.30am that the toddler was found missing.
The DCP said so far they have not got any solid evidence to suggest that it could be a case of kidnapping. “There is a possibility that the child could have walked to the place on her own. We have not confirmed that she was kidnapped. However, we are probing all angles,” he said.
Sources, meanwhile, said the place from where the child was recovered was a difficult terrain that could not be accessed by road. Due to the topography of the area, it would be difficult for a child to reach this far. Police had earlier combed the area, but could not find the child, igniting doubts that the child could have been dropped there later after the police scaled up surveillance.
Police sources, however, claimed that since the child was in an unconscious state, she did not make any sound when the cops went for checking. “Also, the drain was a bit deep and there was space inside it. So the cops who went there initially could have also missed her,” said a police officer.
One of the siblings told the police that the child was taken away in a two-wheeler. However, he later said he got that information from his other brother. The other child, however, denied making such a statement. Nevertheless, the police perused the CCTV visuals from the surrounding areas, but could not find any suspicious vehicular movement.
“The child certainly did not move via road. If so, it could have been caught in the CCTV cameras. There is no evidence as of now to cement the claim that it was a case of kidnap,” said police sources.
The child was first admitted to the General Hospital and her medical condition was found to be stable. She was then shifted to the SAT Hospital for further evaluation and medical screening.
