NDRF joins search operations to trace missing child

Kasargod: A four-year-old girl has been reported missing under mysterious circumstances from Panathur here and authorities have now engaged the National Disaster Response Force personnel to trace her.

The team from Thiruvananthapuram, led by a senior officer, Tuesday commenced search operations in the Bankupayam river using scuba diving cameras to locate the girl who disappeared on August 3.

Authorities began searching for her when she went missing from her house compound after she returned from an Anganwadi centre in the district.

A special investigation team has been set up by the district collector to search for the girl, the police said.

Circle Inspector Sunil Kumar, who is heading the team, said a search was carried out in a nearby river on the day she went missing but there was no trace of the child.

Fire and Rescue Services and the Indian Coast Guard had searched the river for three days.

"Our main suspicion is that the girl might have slipped into the drainage in front of her house as her slippers and umbrella were found there," he said.

It is also suspected that the girl might have been kidnapped as some villagers reported citing nomads in the area on the day, he said, adding, an alert has been sounded at all the police stations across the state.

The search operations will continue tomorrow, he said.