Mysuru: A father’s quest for justice for his kidnapped minor daughter was answered by India’s highest Executive Office — the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). After receiving a communication from the PMO, the Police finally acted and have now arrested the kidnapper and have appointed an Assistant Superintendent of Police to investigate the case. However, the Police have claimed that they acted on their own, without being prodded by the PMO.

The incident took place at Nanjangud in November 2017 where a 12-year-old girl was kidnapped by some youths. In his complaint to Nanjangud Town Police, the girl’s father (identity withheld as the victim is a minor) stated that his daughter had gone missing from a marriage hall in Nanjangud on the evening of Nov.29.

“We searched for her for the whole night on Nov.29 and approached the Police on Nov.30. In my complaint, I had given an unfamiliar phone number that was dialled by my daughter repeatedly from my mobile phone. But the Police failed to trace my daughter,” the girl’s father told Star of Mysore this morning.

“After a few days, my daughter telephoned me from Bihar and pleaded me to rescue her. She told me that she was lured by one of the youths who pretended to be in love with her. He abducted her and took her to New Delhi and Bihar, where she was molested and abandoned,” he explained.

“We went to Bihar along with two Police personnel and brought my daughter home on Dec.7. My daughter narrated that she had befriended the youths while they were working as labourers in Nanjangud. One of them then lured my daughter and took her to New Delhi in a train and abandoned her in Bihar. After hearing my daughter’s ordeal, I approached the Police with definite clues of the accused and urged the Police to arrest my daughter’s tormentors,” he said.

The girl’s father claimed that the Police sat on the case and that was when he decided to write an emotional letter to the PMO (on the complaints portal) addressing Narendra Modi on Feb. 13 this year. “I got a favourable response from the PMO which directed the Karnataka Chief Secretary to take appropriate action. The PMO’s Section Officer directed the Chief Secretary to reply to the petitioner and upload details of the action taken on the portal,” he said.

The Chief Secretary later directed the Mysuru District Police to act on the PMO directive.  Though the Police have claimed that they acted on their own and did not wait for the PMO’s intervention, surprisingly, the Police arrested the main accused just 15 days after the letter was sent to the PMO.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Additional SP N. Rudramuni has denied that there was any delay on the part of the Police and they had been following up on the case. “When the complaint was filed, the identity of the kidnapper was not established and that is why there was a delay. Moreover, the case has inter-State ramifications,” he said.

Suspecting that there were some internal complications in the case, Rudramuni said that the girl’s father wanted us to arrest some more people who are against him (girl’s father). “We have arrested the main accused (identity not revealed by the Police) as narrated by the victim. Now the minor girl has to make a statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (to be recorded by Metropolitan Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate),” he said.

“The girl’s father is trying to exert influence and speed up the investigation without  providing any evidence. We have appointed Assistant Superintendent of Police Himamshu who will investigate the case,” Rudramuni added.