IMPHAL: A rumour about 20 minor girls being kidnapped in Bishnupur district and three teenaged school students among them escaping from the clutches of the abductors spread like fire in the valley districts of Manipur on Monday afternoon only to turn out as a high drama staged by the trio to bunk classes for the day.
Before even verifying if such an incident actually took place, people erupted in anger and began a frantic search to rescue the “kidnapped students” at various places in the valley areas. Some of them even searched vehicles in different areas. In no time, social media was flooded with comments about the allleged incident.
The police, Army and central paramilitary forces also swung into action and sounded a high alert to rescue the “kidnapped children” given the present public unrest besetting the state.
Giving a blow-by-blow account of the actual incident, SP (Bishnupur) K Meghachandra said after receiving reports of kidnapping at 12.30 pm, teams of district police picked up the three minor girls, who are students of a school in the district and recorded their statements.
The three said they were kidnapped on the pretext of being taken for a picnic along with 17 other children (total 20) by two masked persons from Kabowakching close to their school at 8.55am.
They said all other 17 children were wearing black clothes, and they (the three) then changed their school uniforms at the house of one of their relatives after stopping the vehicle.
According to them, while travelling in the vehicle (reportedly a van) after a change of outfit, they became suspicious of the motive of the kidnappers, and jumped out of the vehicle in the Kamong area of the same district to escape from them, the SP said.
“However, there were inconsistencies in their statements. So a proper verification was done following due formalities. And it is established that their story was fabricated as they skipped their class,” the senior police officer said.
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