Nayagarh: Police Intensify Investigation To Trace Missing 3-Year-Old Girl 'Swati'

Nayagarh: Police have intensified its probe to trace three-year-old girl Swati, who has gone missing since the last three days from Badhipatana village under Sarankul block of Nayagarh district.

A complaint in this regard was lodged by Swati's father Sanjay Kumar Sahoo at Rajsunakhala Police Outpost on December 11.

Investigating the case, Sarankul SDPO along with two police teams of Rajsunakhala Police Outpost and Ranpur Police visited the minor girl's village and spoke to the family members of Swati and some villagers.

A sniffer dog has also been engaged and fire personnel teams have also been deployed, who are searching various well, ponds and other water bodies in and around the village.

"She was playing near the house at around 2 PM. When we did not see her for long, we started searching her whereabouts but could not find her. Two mobile vendors were roaming in the village at that time and I suspect their involvement in my daughter's missing," alleged the missing girl's father.

Though a frantic search was launched by her parents and villager, Swati could not be traced anywhere. Later, her parents lodged an FIR with the police in connection with the incident.

It is pertinent to mention here that the five-year-old girl Pari had also gone missing in similar way while playing in front her house at Jadupur village of Nayagarh district in July this year. Later, Pari’s skeletal remains were found from the backyards of her house.

The incident has kicked off a major political stir in Odisha after Pari’s parents attempted to kill themselves in front of the State Assembly last month. The couple had accused Minister Arun Sahoo of shielding the prime suspect in the case identified as Babuli Nayak.

The Opposition parties subsequently had tried to corner the State government by pressing for immediate expulsion of Minister Arun Sahoo for his alleged complicity in the case.

Later, the Odisha government had ordered an investigation into the case by Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by senior IPS officer Arun Bothra.

(Edited By Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)