A drone pressed as part of search operation for the missing Kakinada girl
A drone pressed as part of search operation for the missing Kakinada girl
The girl and her pet dog disappeared on June 6. Initially, it was thought that the dog may have harmed the little girl. But three days later, the dog reappeared and reportedly attempted to pull the saree of the girl’s mother, Bhavani, with its teeth in a bid to take her into the forest. As the woman followed the dog, more villagers joined her. This scared the dog and it stopped in the outskirts of the village and refused to move further into the forest area.The police said Bhavani and her husband Ganesh are agricultural labourers from Ch Agraharam village. Her grandfather, Chinna Abbai, works as a gardener at a 40-acre oil-palm plantation in the village. Ganesh along with his wife and two daughters have been staying in the house located in the plantation for quite some time.According to the police, on June 6, Ganesh’s elder daughter Gnaneswari went out to play while her mother was cooking at home, and her father went to harvest coconuts.A villager spotted the girl near a hill in the company of her pet dog in the evening the same day. Though he attempted to bring her home, the dog barked at him and prevented him from approaching.At first, the family thought the girl was with her father. However, after they were told she had been seen near a hill, they began looking for her. The family searched for her but yielded no results, prompting the family to approach the police.Tuni rural police inspector Chenna Kesava Rao said as many as 10 teams along with a dog squad are searching the girl using drones. The police said the dog was exhibiting an unusual behaviour ever since it reappeared from the forest.The massive search for the little girl seems to be unprecedented in the region as about 100 personnel led by Peddapuram DSP ABG Tilak including 25 SDRF personnel, 10 special party members, and seven inspectors, are part of the search operation.The district administration announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who provides clues leading to the girl.ABG Tilak told TOI that they hope the pet dog will take them to the missing girl as it went along with her. He said the police trust the faith and loyalty of the pet dog. He observed that the dog is in grief and definitely would try to reach out to the girl. He added that the dog has not eaten since the missing of the girl and it is behaving wild.He said an anti-Naxal party has also been pressed into service to trace the girl.
