Police trace 3 girls missing from government-run school hostel in Meerut

District Magistrate V K Singh had formed an inquiry committee to probe the ‘disappearance’ of the girls, and a First Information Report (FIR) was also lodged. The Vyapar Mandal and a section of Hindu outfits had protested over the issue in Meerut on Friday morning.

“The missing girls have been recovered from their respective houses safely late Friday night. They will be sent back to their hostel,” said Vipin Tada, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Meerut.

“The missing girls have been recovered by the police, which launched a massive search operation. The warden of the hostel and a teacher there have been terminated for laxity in the discharge of their duties while show-cause notice has been served to two officers of the UP education department for the delay in informing the police that the girls had been found missing. Two women home guards deployed at the school campus for the security of girls have also been suspended,” said DM Singh.

The police said the school hostel has a strength of a hundred girls, out of which 57 had gone to their houses while three were reported missing when counting of the remaining 43 inmates was conducted on Thursday afternoon. The warden informed the teacher about the missing girls, but she did not inform anyone and instead made calls to the girls’ parents asking about their whereabouts. At around 7 pm, the Basic Shiksha Adhikari was informed, who also delayed the search and finally directed the warden to lodge the FIR at around 10 pm on Thursday.

Twenty Meerut cops divided into five teams scoured footage from over a dozen CCTV cameras located in different parts of the town to trace the girls.