Missing minor traced in Varanasi

Nagpur: A 17-year-old girl who had gone missing from Jaripatka on July 15 was traced in Varanasi.
Crime branch sleuths, led by police inspector (anti-human trafficking squad) Nanda Mangate, found out that the girl got married to a 23-year-old in Varanasi. The cops have arrested one Pravesh Singh on the charges of kidnapping the minor.
The sleuths then reunited the girl with her parents in the city and handed over Singh to Jaripatka police station, where the team is investigating further.
Mangate said the crime branch team started the probe based on the missing complaint of the girl, which led them to a tiny village called Choti Gao in Varanasi district. “We then found the girl at Singh’s place. They got married in a temple,” she said.
To a query, the PI said the girl befriended Singh four years ago as her grandmother too stays in Choti Gao. Their friendship bloomed and the girl went to Varanasi to marry him, it is learnt.
In the recent past, many girls between the age of 13 and 17 years have gone missing from the city. Nagpur city police’s special anti-human trafficking squad has been investigating such cases.