Uttarakhand: Police recover body of missing 7-year-old, says possible rape case

The girl had come with her family to Haldwani in Nainital district from their native place in a different district to attend a party hosted by a relative. She had gone missing on November 20 from the venue of the party at Ramleela ground.

Reports reaching here from Haldwani said the recovery of the body had sent shock waves through Haldwani town. The girl’s father had lodged a missing person complaint with the Kathgodam police station in Haldwani on November 21. “Later, local residents also protested against the incident in Haldwani town,” a source in Haldwani told The Indian Express over the phone.

The police had constituted multiple teams to trace the girl. “The police searched several places, including canals and railway tracks, to trace the girl over the past week,” the source said.

An official press release said Chief Minister Harish Rawat has given special instructions to the state DGP to trace the criminals involved in the incident. He has directed that a team from the state police’s Special Task Force (STF) be sent to assist the local police in the investigation.

IN ANOTHER INCIDENT, BODY OF A MAN RECOVERED IN HARIDWAR

Haridwar Police have recovered the body of one Anil Johari (about 50 yrs), who was posted a Senior DGM, BHEL, in Haridwar, from near the railway track near Bhagat Singh roundabout on Monday. Police believe that Johari might have been hit by a vehicle.

DIG (Garhwal range) Sanjay Gunjayal said Johari was staying with his family in Haridwar’s Jawalapur area, and appeared to have had a drinking problem. According to Gunjayal, he had left his house on Sunday evening. “Prima facie it is a case of accident. We are still to get the autopsy report,” Gunjayal said.