SHILLONG: Eight years after the kidnapping of two four-years-old kids – Sachit Goyal and his cousin sister Harsha Goyal – the State Police and the CBI are still clueless about their whereabouts.
Harsha Goyal, daughter of Harish Goyal and Sachit Goyal, son of Dipak Goyal, both residents of 4JB Cantonment, Jhalupara, were kidnapped on August 2, 2006 on their way to school in a private car driven by Rudal Shah, son of Vidya Shah, permanent resident of Basaon village under Basantnagar PS in Sewan district of Bihar.
There were many twists and turns about the disappearance of the children as the Police once had rushed to Silchar following a claim that the children were under the safe custody of a resident there, but in vain as the police team had to return empty handed from Silchar.
A police official on Sunday admitted that Meghalaya Police had failed to make any breakthrough in the case for want of evidence.
Though the driver of the vehicle in which the children were taken to the school on the day of kidnapping was questioned, police could not get any vital clues from him.
After the case was handed over to the CBI, the investigating agency had declared a reward of Rs.11 lakh for anyone providing information on the whereabouts of the children.
Earlier, soon after the abduction of the children, the parents had also announced a reward of Rs.1 lakh for anyone who comes forward with information about the missing children.
In the past, police had arrested a miscreant identified as Pharnei Swer, who had made an attempt to dupe the parents of the missing children by demanding Rs. 25 lakh for the safe release of the children.
He had told the parents that the cash was meant as ransom for the abductors with whom he had established contacts.
Both police and the CBI interrogated Swer and found that was only attempting to cheat the parents.
There were also reports of some miscreants demanding Rs.10 lakh as ransom for the safe release of the children, but the investigating agencies did not find further clues on the matter.
Moreover, the police had also searched for the kidnappers in many parts of the Northeast, borders of Bangladesh and Nepal and also sought the intervention of the BSF to find out the role of any militants who may have kidnapped the children to Bangladesh, but in vain.
The parents and relatives had, in the past, admitted that there were many calls from parts of the Northeast claiming that the callers had found the children, but after verification, while some were found to be hoax, others were ignored as attempts by vested interests to earn a quick buck.