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Credit: Reuters Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: Two teenage girls, who went missing from Malappuram district in Kerala on Wednesday, were traced from Pune within 36 hours, bringing relief to the families of the two girls.
The families of the two 16-year-old girls were all in praise for the police team who swiftly acted.
The two plus-one students hailing from Tanur in Malappuram were detained from a train at Lonavala near Pune during the wee hours of Friday while they were traveling from Mumbai.
The girls left their homes on Wednesday noon on the pretext of writing exams. As the girls did not report for exams, the school authorities checked with their parents. Thus it was noticed that the girls went missing.
After searching nearby places the families reported the matter to the police by evening and the police swung into action.
Malappuram district police chief Viswanadh R told DH that mobile phone tracking facility and cooperation by the Maharashtra police and Malayali associations there played a key role in tracing the girls.
The mobile phones of the two girls were switched off at Kozhikode, which is around 40 kilometres away. On verifying their call record details, the police found a common number to which the two contacted. It was found to be registered in the name of one Rahim of Manjeri in Malappuram district.
That phone's location was tracked and found to be moving towards Maharashtra. Kerala police alerted their Maharashtra counterparts, railway police and also sought the help of Malayali associations there.
By Thursday noon the police got in touch with Rahim. He told the police that he got in touch with the girls through social media and they sought help in traveling to Mumbai. He also informed that he left the girls at a saloon in Mumbai run by a Malayali.
The police contacted the saloon owner Lucy Prince and she said that the girls left the place after hair styling. The girls told her that they came to attend a marriage and were part of a group. They spent around Rs 10,000.
As one of the girls switched on her phone after inserting a new SIM card the police got an alert and tracked the location to CST railway station. Subsequently, it was found that the girls boarded a Chennai-bound night train. By 1.45 am on Friday the two were detained when the train reached Lonavala.
Minor issues in the family were suspected to have prompted the girls to leave their house. Police will be quizzing the girls and the youth, who is said to be a salesman at a shop, once they are brought to Kerala.