Cops track down Bandra teen in Bellary


Mumbai: On the back of the recent disappearance and murder of Andheri resident Vanshita Rathod, Bandra police swung into action on Tuesday to track down a 15-year-old girl, who went missing since Sunday. In a 48-hour operation they managed to locate her and her boyfriend in Bellary, Karnataka.

The schoolgirl lives with her parents and younger brother in Bandra (west).

In her complaint on Monday, the mother stated that on Sunday, the two went to Prabhadevi to visit Ganesh pandals. After they returned home, the girl told her mother that she was going to visit some more pandals in her locality. When the mother returned home at around 9:30 pm after running some errands, she was nowhere to be found and her phone was switched off.

Her enquires with the neighbours were futile. She then approached cops. The Bandra police registered a case of kidnapping against unknown persons.

Orders were issued to investigate the case on priority. When queried, the parents denied that girl was in any romantic relationship.

“They were genuinely in the dark. However, the girl’s call detail record (CDR) helped us with the clues. We isolated the one number, apart from her parents’, with which she had exchanged the highest number of calls before going missing. The number was registered in the name of a young man from Bhandup. Cellular location mapping also placed him frequently in close proximity of the girl,” said an officer with the Bandra police station.

A coordinated effort between Bandra and Bhandup cops revealed that the boy was missing as well. This sent a chill down their spine. Parallel enquiries were made using the his CDRs and his brother’s number was obtained eventually.

“We called his family to the police station and probed them on Monday. We learnt that he has an uncle who lives in Bellary, Karnataka. We reached out to him and learnt that the two were with him,” the officer said.

After counselling from cops and the respective parents, the two left for Mumbai on Tuesday.