Uttarakhand police’s failure to locate a 14-year-old minor girl, who was allegedly enticed and lured away by a 24-year-old man from another community, has triggered unrest among the local public and right-wing organisations in Udham Singh Nagar. Workers of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajarag Dal have claimed the incident to be a case of love jihad and demanded that the man’s house be bulldozed.

Although Udham Singh Nagar police have assured that they will locate the missing minor girl, right-wing Hindu organisations allege that more than 19 days have passed without the police tracing the whereabouts of the girl or the man involved. They questioned, “How can the police remain clueless about the girl who went missing 19 days ago, on April 28, from the Kelakheda area of Udham Singh Nagar?”

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Angry VHP and Bajrang Dal workers protested on Friday in front of the Kelakheda police station, demanding demolition of the house of the man, who worked as a barber in the same colony. They alleged that this was yet another case of love jihad in the state. Despite repeated talks and arguments with the station in-charge, the protesters refused to leave the police station campus. They finally calmed down only after the BJP MLA from Rudrapur, Shiv Arora, arrived and addressed them. Arora assured the protesters that the police would soon locate the minor girl and the man who allegedly lured her away. The right-wing workers warned they would take to the streets if the girl was not brought back soon.

According to Udham Singh Nagar SSP Manikant Tiwari, the minor girl was lured away on April 28 by a 24-year-old barber from another community. Following a complaint by the girl’s parents, Kelakheda police registered a missing person’s report. The girl’s father accused the man of kidnapping his daughter. Two days later, on April 30, VHP and Bajrang Dal workers, led by the state secretary of the VHP Gau Raksha Dal, Yashpal Rajhans, met the Kelakheda police station in-charge and demanded the retrieval of the minor girl. Rajhans alleged that the man was part of a love jihad network operating in the state.

When contacted, Udham Singh Nagar SSP said, “The missing girl is 14 years old. All efforts are being made to recover both the girl and the man alleged to have lured her away. The man’s family and friends have been interrogated, and teams have been sent to other states and places that have emerged during the investigation. We have strong clues regarding the whereabouts of the man and the missing minor girl. The police will soon bring them back.”