Missing shelter home girls traced in U’khand

RANCHI/DEHRADUN: Two minor girls who fled from a governmentaided shelter home—Sahyog village in Khunti district were traced in Uttrakhand, officials said on Thursday.

The girls were rescued by the Child Line, an NGO working for the child rights, from Haridwar and shifted to government-run State Girls’ Shelter Home (SGSH), Kedarpuram, in Dehradun, said district child protection officer (DCPO) of Khunti, Altaf Khan. Khan is the investigating officer of the case. “We will send a four-member team comprising a sub-inspector, a protection officer and two woman constables to bring the girls to Khunti on Friday,” Khan said. An 11-year-old and another 13-yearold girl fled the Sahyog village on the night of August 5 using a ladder, according to the CCTV footage collected by the district administration.

Torn pages of a notebook helped the management of State Girl’s Shelter Home (SGSH) in Dehradun to track the whereabouts of two minor girls, who were found in Haridwar on August 13. They were handed over to CWC, Haridwar unit, the same day and on August 14 were brought to Dehradun. “When the girls were handed over to us, we checked their belongings. There was a notebook which was torn to pieces. But, we somehow managed to join the pieces and found a mobile number. Luckily, that contact belonged to Sahyog village management,” Meena Singh, the superintendent of the SGSH informed.

DIG Garhwal, Ajay Rautela added, “The girls are safe and will be handed over to Jharkhand administration upon their arrival.” Khunti shelter home superintendent Sosan Purty said she received a call on Wednesday afternoon from the Dehradunbased shelter home, who said that the two girls were staying there.