‘Missing’ girls: School trust hikes bounty on ‘runaway’ teacher

“The informer’s identity will be kept secret,” said Ashok Kanjariya,a school trustee.

This comes a week after the Rajkot district education office served a notice to the school,asking it to trace the girls or face cancellation of their affiliation. The notice followed a complaint by the parents,who suspect involvement of the school management.

A complaint of kidnapping was filed by school’s managing trustee Ashok Kanjariya against Trivedi. Subsequently,the Rajkot rural police had sent teams to various states,including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal,in search of the trio,but failed to make any breakthrough.

According to the police,the girls had left the hostel around 3am on 25 July. When a cleaning staffer saw them,they reportedly told her that they had permission from their teacher to go out. They said Trivedi,a divorcee,has 10% working partnership in the school. He allegedly lured the girls to travel with him to historical and religious places.