Bengaluru: An 18 year old second year PUC student who disappeared from Bengaluru nearly seven months ago has finally been traced, with an Aadhaar linked OTP providing investigators the crucial lead in a case that had baffled police for months.
The girl, identified in reports as Tanishka, went missing from Vidyaranyapura on January 31 after leaving home with a minor female friend. The two had reportedly told their families that they were going to college. They left behind their mobile phones, ATM cards and other belongings, carrying only their Aadhaar cards and college bags, making the investigation particularly difficult.
A missing person case was registered at Vidyaranyapura police station. A 10 member police team subsequently searched more than 100 locations, including places in Karnataka as well as Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Varanasi and Kerala. The girls, however, remained untraceable.
The case took a new turn after the girls parents approached the Karnataka High Court with a habeas corpus petition. In April, the court directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to take over the investigation.
According to police, the two girls had contacted friends a few days after leaving home and said they were at Male Mahadeshwara Hills. They later went their separate ways.
The breakthrough came when CID investigators found that Tanishka had recently used her Aadhaar details in connection with a government scheme and had provided her husband’s mobile number for an OTP. Police traced the number to the man and questioned him, eventually locating Tanishka in a village in Kanakapura taluk.
Police said Tanishka had married the man and was pregnant. She was subsequently produced before the Karnataka High Court and handed over to her parents.
Reports also indicate that investigators learnt the girls had travelled through temple towns before reaching Male Mahadeshwara Hills. They were reportedly contemplating suicide at one stage but were persuaded against taking the extreme step after meeting two young men. Tanishka later began living with one of them, and the couple eventually married.
While one missing girl has now been traced, the case is far from over. The minor who left home with Tanishka remains missing, and the CID continues its efforts to locate her.
The case has highlighted how even after months without phones or conventional digital trails, a single identity linked transaction can provide investigators with the breakthrough needed to reopen a seemingly dead end.
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