BHUBANESWAR: Five days after the 13-year-old girl went missing from Badagada area of the Capital City, the Commissionerate of Police on Thursday rescued her from a deserted house at Keonjhar.
The Special Squad of Bhubaneswar Urban Police District brought back the minor to the City and re-united her with her family on Friday. The couple, who had abducted the child, was arrested from the same locality where the minor was confined.
“The accused couple is being examined to ascertain their motive behind the abduction. While no ransom call was made by the duo, the possibility of trafficking cannot be ruled out at this stage,” DCP Satyabrata Bhoi said.
The accused, Bishnu Prasad Moharana and his wife Rasmita, originally from Godipada village in Nayagarh district, were tenants in Prabhat Mohanty’s (the victim’s father) house for the last one month. On Monday, while the girl was on her way to school, the couple met and told her that Prabhat had asked them to take her to Cuttack where he had gone for an urgent work.
The duo, during their one-month stay as tenants, had won the confidence of Mohanty family. Hence, the girl believed them easily and got into their vehicle and the three left for Cuttack. However, on reaching Cuttack, she was told that her father had sent a message and asked Mohapatra to come to Keonjhar. It was then that the child suspected their intention and realised that she had been kidnapped.
At Keonjhar, she was kept in a house for two days after which the couple planned to leave for Bangalore. “Their movement was restricted because the couple fell short of cash and made some calls to arrange money for their journey to Bangalore,” IIC, Badagada police station Suvendu Sinha said.
After the calls made from Mohapatra’s mobile were intercepted, a team was dispatched to Keonjhar and the child was freed from confinement, Bhoi added.
The police are now verifying antecedents of the couple and probing whether they had any links with child trafficking gangs in neighbouring States. On Friday, the kidnapper couple was produced in Bhubaneswar SDJM’s court which remanded them in judicial custody.