Missing 3 schoolgirls rescued from Ctg

Police have rescued three schoolgirls from Chattogram, four days after they went missing in Bandarban's Lama upazila, and, later, handed them over to their families.

The girls were rescued during separate raids in Khulshi under Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) late Wednesday night, October 14, Lama Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Kaisar Hamid said.

The rescued girls are Reshmi Akter, 17, Tania Sultana, 13, and Halimatuchch Sadia, 14. They are residents of Yangsha Muslimpara in Ward 8 of Fashiakhali Union under Lama upazila. Tania is a seventh-grade student at Yangsha High School. The classes of the other two girls could not be confirmed.

According to their families, Reshmi left home on October 10, saying she needed to collect a certificate. The other two girls left home later, and their whereabouts remained unknown.

Unable to find them despite searches, their families filed general diaries with Lama Police Station on October 13.

Police and local sources said the girls went missing from their area at around 9:30AM on October 11. Investigators later traced their location with the help of information technology.

OC Kaisar Hamid said Khulshi police conducted separate raids at a house on Road No. 2 and another at Concord Tower in Khulshi Town Centre on Wednesday night, rescuing the three girls.

Preliminary information suggested that they had been staying at the locations to work as domestic helpers, he said.

After completing the necessary legal procedures, police formally handed the girls over to their families on Thursday, October 15. They were reported to be safe and in good health.

The families expressed gratitude to police for rescuing the girls and reuniting them with their loved ones.

-EM