The Sri Lankan police were on Thursday hunting for a teenager in connection with an alleged kidnapping of two school girls in the island nation’s southern town of Kalutara, police said.
According to police the 16-year-old suspect along with a taxi driver had allegedly grabbed the girls while they were on their way to school and later taken them to a house where there was a lone woman occupant.
They said the school authorities had raised the alarm and the two girls were later found at a location in the vicinity of a police training facility.
The motive for the alleged kidnapping was yet to be established but officers said that the suspect is also alleged to have beaten up the two girls during the taxi ride.
The woman occupant of the house along with the taxi driver was taken into custody while the main suspect was evading arrest, according to police.
Initial investigations have revealed that the suspect had targeted one girl but drove off with the other girl as well when she attempted to intervene, according to police.
The two girls were later referred to a medical examination at a State-owned medical facility.
Police are investigating to ascertain if a jilted love affair had led to the alleged kidnapping that took place in Heantiangala Kalutara some 40 kilometres south of the commercial capital Colombo.
