Madikeri: A minor girl who had been missing on May 8, 2017, has been successfully traced by the police after 20 months.

Mani, a resident of Sanivarasanthe town in Somwarpet taluk, had filed a complaint in the town’s police station stating that his daughter had gone missing.

Based on Mani’s complaint, the police registered a case of abduction under IPC Section 363 and started an investigation. The Superintendent of Police later transferred the case to the district CEN special police station.

Investigation officers Clement Saldanha, Prakash and Kariappa gathered information that the missing girl was in Srirangapatna. CEN Special Police Station Inspector M A Harish Kumar then successfully traced the girl who was staying in a government hospital in the town.

During interrogation, the girl has denied that she was kidnapped. She has reportedly said that nobody kidnapped her, and she had left home on her own, without informing her father and brother.

After taking her statement, the police have handed over the girl to her father.