Four Missing Kolkata Schoolgirls Found Safe After Mysterious Disappearance
Rescue of Missing Students
Photo: IANS
Kolkata, April 11: Officers from the Amherst Street police station successfully located four ninth-grade girls who had vanished from their school within a mere 12 hours, as confirmed by a senior Kolkata Police official on Saturday.
The alarming event unfolded at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the historic Arya Kanya School located on Bidhan Sarani in north Kolkata.
The situation began on April 8 when the four students attended school like any other day. However, they failed to return home after classes ended. Concerned parents quickly reported the matter to the Amherst Street police station, prompting them to file a kidnapping report. In response, a team led by Officer-in-Charge Shubhdeep Chakraborty initiated an investigation.
A police representative stated that the team began reviewing CCTV footage from Howrah and Sealdah stations that afternoon. They shared images of the missing girls with the Government Railway Police, Railway Protection Force, and vendors at the stations.
Through their inquiries, authorities discovered that the girls had changed out of their school uniforms in the restroom of Howrah Station and boarded a long-distance train. At that time, trains to Mumbai and Asansol were departing from Howrah.
During the preliminary investigation, officers learned from classmates that the girls had recently been reprimanded for visiting a hookah bar in Kolkata without their parents' knowledge.
Additionally, a friend of one of the girls informed the police that one of the students had connected with an 18-year-old male from Asansol via Instagram. The girls had met him a few days prior when he visited Kolkata for business.
On Wednesday night, a police team traveled to Asansol. Upon arrival, they were informed by the local police that a young man and a minor girl had sustained injuries in a motorcycle accident during a routine check around 11:30 p.m. After searching, the police located the young man in a hospital. Upon questioning him, they learned that the four girls were also in Asansol.
The girls had attempted to stay at several hotels in Asansol that night, but none would accept them due to their minor status. The Kolkata Police successfully rescued the girls from Asansol station around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday and returned them to Kolkata later that afternoon. They are currently being housed in a safe facility.
"The investigation is ongoing to determine the reasons behind the girls' trip to Asansol and who facilitated it. We aim to uncover the motivations that led them to leave school without informing their parents and end up in Asansol. Our goal is to resolve the mystery surrounding their disappearance," stated the senior Kolkata Police officer.