Five more girls vanish in Ludhiana, tally reaches 9 in 48 hours.

Ludhiana: Police face immense pressure and accusations of systemic delay after five more girls disappeared in a single day, leading to the registration of three fresh kidnapping cases just 24 hours after four other girls were reported missing.The latest disappearances involve four minors and an 18-year-old, bringing the total number of missing girls to nine within a 48-hour period. Under intense scrutiny from senior officers, investigators have finally filed first-information reports (FIRs) naming two suspects and an unidentified accomplice.In the first instance, an 18-year-old vanished on April 27, just one day after her birthday, after telling her family she was walking to school to enroll in classes.

She never returned.The family realised a male neighbour had vanished the same day, and his mobile phone was switched off. Despite repeated pleas, local officers allegedly refused to register a formal case for over a month.“The cops told us repeatedly that because she is 18, she must have simply run away to get married,” the girl’s father said. “Even if she did marry, I have a right to know where my child is. They ignored my complaints until I bypassed them to brief senior command, who finally ordered the investigation.”

In a separate second case, a 16-year-old domestic worker vanished under mysterious circumstances after finishing her shift on May 24. The girl’s mother reported that her daughter had returned from work at dusk, parked her bicycle outside a neighbourhood temple, and disappeared.Closed-circuit television footage captured near the temple shows the teenager walking away alone. Police have registered a case of wrongful confinement against an unidentified suspect.The final case involves three minor cousins—aged 14, 15, and 16—who vanished together on May 27. The mother of the eldest girl received a phone call from an unfamiliar number the following day.The 16-year-old revealed she was in a neighbouring city with a young man who intended to marry her. She further disclosed that her two younger cousins had been put on a train bound for their extended family’s home province.Senior officers confirmed the two younger girls had since established contact and shared their exact coordinates. Families are currently travelling to recover them, while police pursue the male suspect on abduction charges.