The Odisha High Court on Tuesday outright rejected a status report filed by the Ganjam district police on the alleged kidnap of a local minor girl and directed the State Crime Branch police to investigate and trace the girl, who has been reported missing since July last year.
A Division Bench of Justices MM Das and AK Rath, in response to a petition filed by the girl’s father Santosh Kumar Padhy of Podingi village under the Hinjili police station, expressed its displeasure over the inaction of the Ganjam police and asked the Crime Branch to take over the case immediately.
The girl was allegedly kidnapped from her native village on June 28, 2012, following which her father lodged a complaint at the Hinjili police station on July 1, 2012.
The police, however, reluctantly registered a case on July 10 and sat over it without taking any initiative. The girl’s father approached the district SP and other district-level officials on August 1.
When nothing moved, Padhy preferred to approach the HC through a writ on August 18, 2012. Taking up the writ, the HC in January this year asked the Ganjam police to file a status report in the case.
After getting the HC notice, the Ganjam police this month filed a status report saying they have raided several places to trace the girl but were unsuccessful. It may be noted that Hinjili is the constituency that comes under the jurisdiction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.