Missing minor girl found in Haryana, accused arrested after three-month-long probe

Guntur District Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal addressing a press conference on the minor girl missing case at the police headquarters on Saturday | Photo Credit: T. VIJAYA KUMAR The Guntur police traced the 15-year-old Class X girl and arrested Shaik John Saida alias Rabbani, the accused with whom she had allegedly left home, at Karnal in Haryana on Friday, bringing an end to an nearly three-month-long search. The police brought both of them to Guntur, Superintendent of Police (SP) Vakul Jindal told The Hindu on Saturday.The accused, a 21 year old resident of Upputuru village in Parchur mandal in Bapatla district, will be produced before a court on charges of kidnapping the minor girl with whom he allegedly had a friendship for the last couple of years, the SP said. The SP said that the girl had tried to contact her mother through a social media platform on a couple of occasions, including August 26 and September 3, but the calls went unanswered. However, the call on September 3 (Thursday) helped the police in tracing her location and subsequently led to the arrest of the accused.According to the police, girl had left home with nearly 250 grams of gold and more than ₹1 lakh in cash. Rabbani, who had developed a friendship with her through Instagram, allegedly changed mobile phones and SIM cards at different locations, including Nellore, Coimbatore, Palakkad and Secunderabad, to evade tracking.The girl had been missing since June 9, 2026. Following a complaint from her father, the Pattabhipuram police registered a girl missing case on June 10 and launched an investigation.During the probe, police reportedly identified Rabbani as the person who had been in contact with the girl through Instagram. Police examined CCTV footages and it allegedly showed him taking the girl on a motorcycle. Investigating officials subsequently pursued a wide range of technical and field leads, requisitioning call detail records, IMEI tracking data, Instagram and Gmail information, and tracking IP addresses linked to multiple numbers, devices and accounts.Police teams travelled to Coimbatore, Palakkad, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Nellore, Parchur and Adoni, examining CCTV footage at railway stations, lodges and other locations, searching hostels and making enquiries with Rabbani’s family members, friends and social-media contacts. Informers were also deployed at various stages.The case later reached the Andhra Pradesh High Court after the girl's father filed a habeas corpus petition seeking her production and restoration to the family. Acting on the court’s directions, DGP Harish Kumar Gupta constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to intensify the investigation.K. Supraja, SP (NC), Crimes, Guntur, was designated to supervise and coordinate the SIT under the overall supervision of SP Vakul Jindal. The team included DSP B. Srinivasa Rao, Pattabhipuram Inspector Ganga Venkateswarlu, IT Core Inspector Md. Nisar Basha, WSI P. Tarangini, SI M. Raj Kumar and other police personnel.The police said the investigation involved continuous verification and follow-up of every lead, ultimately resulting in the duo being traced in Haryana. Published - September 05, 2026 08:57 pm IST