Six-year old girl Payal who went missing from Odisha zoo rescued

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Oct 29:

The six-year-old girl, Payal, who had gone missing from the Nandankanan zoo on the outskirts of Odisha’s capital city on October 4, was rescued by the police on Tuesday evening from the house of an auto rickshaw driver in Lingipur area here.

The Lingaraj police have detained the auto rickshaw driver for interrogation.

According to the statement of the little girl, she was picked up by an auto rickshaw driver from outside the main entrance of the zoological park and taken to his home in his auto rickshaw. After a few days she was handed over to another auto rickshaw driver who subjected her to physical torture and forced her to do household chores.

Payal, who hails from Berhampur, had come to the zoo with her parents and relatives on October 4 and had gone missing since then.

After frantically searching for Payal for hours inside and outside the zoo, her parents informed the zoo authorities and in the evening lodged a complaint with the Nandankanan police station.

The police, with the help of zoo authorities, had searched the zoo and nearby sanctuary thoroughly but found no trace of the girl.

On October 8, police circulated her photograph to other police stations and pasted it at public places. Police had also roped in volunteers from different NGOs to help locate her at the earliest.