Hours after a group of people from the Patidar community gheraoed a police station in Surat alleging “inaction” in tracing a teenaged minor girl who was allegedly abducted over a month ago, Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut transferred the investigation to the Surat crime branch on Friday.
On Friday evening, a large number of people from the Patidar community, under the banner of Patidar Seva Sangh, gathered to participate in a meeting over the issue. Vijay Mangukiya, a community leader of the Patidar Seva Sangh, appealed to the community to “unite and fight”. The girl’s parents, who were also present in the meeting, also appealed to the community to support them.
Later, a delegation, along with the girl’s parents, met the police inspector concerned and sought details about the action taken on the basis of the complaint. On November 28 last year, the local police registered a complaint of kidnapping under BNS Section 137 (2) against the accused, who is a local resident.
In a written order, Commissioner Gahlaut mentioned that all the official documents related to the missing person case should be handed over to the Surat crime branch and an officer of Deputy Commissioner rank should hand over the investigations to an inspector rank officer and supervise the entire matter.
Surat crime branch personnel have coordinated with the police station concerned and launched an investigation.Patidar Seva Sangh leader Vijay Mangukiya claimed, “The girl was staying with a relative here. Around 35 days ago, the girl was kidnapped by a married man… A father of two children. Her family members handed an application to the local police and sought their help in locating her. The girl’s parents later contacted us due to police inaction. We used our personal source to find the mobile phone number of the accused man, who is not a Patidar, and his location in Saurashtra. We have handed over details to the police station inspector. The details were handed over to the sub-inspector, who called up the accused and told him to come to the police station. The accused then switched off his phone and is untraceable.”
He added, “The police should have taken steps tactfully, instead of calling the accused. We have also made representations to Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi on Thursday.”