Pune: A night patrolling team of the Bavdhan police in the early hours of Sunday rescued a 16-year-old Chikhali girl from the clutches of her kidnappers after chasing a mini-truck for over 70km before intercepting it at Bhairavadi in Khandala taluka of Satara district off the Pune-Bengaluru highway. The patrolling team took the kidnapper (22) into custody and later handed him over to the Chikhali police. His accomplice, who was driving the mini-truck, managed to escape.
Inspector Bhaskar Kadam of the Bavdhan police told TOI that the police team was alerted by the Pimpri Chinchwad police control room about the kidnapping of the girl around 3.30am on Sunday. "The location of the vehicle was at least 20km from Bavdhan on the highway going to Satara," Kadam said.
Constables Suraj Tilekar, Nilesh Bhagwat and Tausif Mahat started pursuing the mini-truck in a police van. "The team blocked their way at Bhairavwadi and rescued the girl. They also nabbed the person who kidnapped her.
The driver of the vehicle, however, managed to escape," Kadam said. He said, "Investigations revealed that the minor and the suspect were staying in Chikhali and hailed from the same district in UP. As the family of the girl was against their relationship, the man kidnapped her.
" Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner Vinoy Kumar Choubey on Monday felicitated constables Tilekar, Bhagwat and Mahat for their role in the girl's rescue..