Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 15: The last month’s devastative floods have doomed over 12.5 lakh families in Jammu and Kashmir but it reunited a 6-year-old kidnapped Mumbai girl, Megha, with her parents. She was kidnapped by a child trafficking gang last year from Bandra.
The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Missing Persons Bureau, Vasant Dhoble, along with a lady cop and Megha’s maternal uncle arrived here this morning and took custody of the child before flying back to Mumbai this evening. Dhoble said that they have taken the custody of the child and will investigate the case. “We may come back to Srinagar for the investigations”, he added.
The girl whose father, Shardaprasad Chaudhury, is an auto driver and mother, Seema, working as domestic help in Bandra was kidnapped by a child trafficking gang last year from Bandra when her mother was purchasing some eatable from a roadside eatery.
The girl was found weeping near a Masjid in Dalgate area of Srinagar 20 days ago by residents. The residents initially thought that the child had got separated from their parents who must have been holidaying here. They informed the police but they refused to take her custody and finally she was handed over to one Abdul Rashid Sheikh of Dalgate.
Reports said that after few days, the child started divulging some information. She told the Sheikh family that she was kidnapped by one Nazir from Bandra and brought to Kashmir.
“I was brought to Kashmir in a train by Nazir who took me to Sopore, Ashmuqam and Anantnag where he would beg for money from people. He even cut my hair. He (Nazir) kidnaps children from Mumbai”, Megha told the Sheikh family.
Sheikh family put Megha’s picture on social networking sites of Facebook and Twitter and it caught the attention of Mumbai police, which searched for missing Megha’s in the age group of 6 and finally zeroed in on the particular Megha.
Initially, the Mumbai police found around a dozen Megha in the missing list of children in the age group of six. Finally there was one Megha from Bandra whose picture matched with the missing girl who was found in Srinagar.
The Mumbai Police Commissioner, Rakesh Maria, yesterday ordered that the girl be brought to Mumbai. The ACP along with the maternal uncle of Megha and a lady cop flew to Srinagar this morning. They conducted preliminary investigation and medical examination of the girl before taking her to Mumbai.
Sources said that reuniting of the girl has blown lid off the child trafficking gang that is kidnapping children from different parts of the country and making them to beg in the streets.
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