MUMBAI: A minor girl who fled with her 22-year-old paramour last year were traced to a hotel in neighbouring Thane on Monday, a senior police official said.
The girl, who was 16-years-old at the time of the incident, went missing from her residence in Malwani in northwest Mumbai.
The girl's parents filed a case of kidnapping against a 22-year-old resident of the area, one Feroz Abdul Shaikh, who was suspected to have taken her away.
After unsuccessful attempts by the local police station, the parents in 2008 approached the Bombay High Court where they filed a habeas corpus petition and said the police had not taken sufficient efforts to find her.
"A division bench of Justice Bilal Nazki and Ashutosh Kumbhkoni had directed the Mumbai Commissioner of Police to file an affidavit in the matter.
He informed the Court that special efforts would be made and the case was being transferred to the Crime Branch," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria said.
The case was transferred on August 28,he said.
Acting on information, officials from the Crime Branch raided a Hotel Yatri in the Kashimira area today where the couple was found, he said.
"The girl has been sent for medical examination and will be produced before the high court tomorrow," Maria said.
Shaikh, a welder by profession, had fled with the girl to Madgaon in Goa and the couple allegedly later returned to the city after they found the police were tracking them there.
He had saved money and sold his scooter to fund their travel and had also been working in Goa, Maria said.
