9-year-old girl goes missing in Kurla, found in Chembur

A nine-year-old speech-impaired girl went missing from outside her Kurla home on Wednesday morning. After a search by the police and her relatives, she was found in the evening about two kilometres away at Pestom Sagar Colony in Chembur. Though the police are to ascertain how she got there, medical examinations have ruled out foul play.

Nawal Sheikh, a resident of Abu Gani Chawl at New Mill Compound in Kurla (West), had gone out of her house to play around 8.30am. When she did not return by 10am, her mother Shabina, 36, went looking for her. When she could not be traced, Shabina lodged a complaint at Kurla police station.

A hunt was launched and police teams searched commuting hubs, including the homes of the girl’s relatives, but to no avail,” said senior inspector Vijay Bagve of Kurla police station. A wireless message was sent to all stations with the girl’s description.

“Around 8.15pm, the Tilak Nagar police contacted us and informed that a girl with similar description had been picked up,” Bagve said. A team rushed there with the girl’s parents, who identified their daughter.

Senior inspector RM Gavit of Tilak Nagar police station said, “A policeman found the girl. When she couldn’t reply to his queries, he realised she was speech-impaired and brought her to the police station.”