A 17-year-old missing girl from Turbhe was traced to Delhi and rescued by a team of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Navi Mumbai Police on Wednesday. They also arrested a 19-year-old youth who had abducted her.
The girl, the daughter of a shopkeeper based in Turbhe MIDC, had gone missing on August 7, after which a kidnapping case was registered with the Turbhe MIDC Police.
Misleading information
“We found that [the girl] had been befriended by a youth, who had posted misleading information about himself on social media. He also had a display picture that made her believe that he belonged to a well-to-do family. He had promised to marry her,” senior police inspector Anand Chavan from AHTU said.
The team found the mobile number of the accused from the girl’s call records and started tracing the duo. “First we got information that he had taken her to Hyderabad. After we reached Hyderabad, we learnt that they had left for Delhi. The accused had gotten a hint that we were arriving and hence fled the city with the girl,” Mr. Chavan said.
Tip-off from friend
After arresting the accused in Delhi, the team learnt that the accused had fled Hyderabad as he was unable to get a room there. He had also he received a call from a friend who informed him that the police was looking for him.
“We are investigating what [the accused’s] intentions were. He lived in a hutment in Turbhe MIDC and was unemployed. He had made the girl, a junior college student, believe that he was a graduate,” an officer from AHTU said. The accused is in the custody of the Turbhe MIDC Police.
