New Year joy ride by Class 10 girls on RTC buses keeps police, parents on toes

As students did not return home from school, parents lodged complaint; police traced them to Nizamabad, Vemulawada

Nizamabad: The free bus ride introduced for women in the State allegedly prompted three Class 10 students of the Zilla Parishad High School for Girls in Navipet mandal headquarters in the district to take up a “joy trip” to watch New Year celebrations, creating a sensation in the mandal on Thursday night.

However, with the efforts of the police they were traced within 24 hours and brought home on Friday evening. Police traced them to Nizamabad and Vemulawada.

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The students went to school on Thursday but failed to return home. Alarmed by their absence, the parents filed a complaint with the Navipet police the same day. One of the girls was located at the Nizamabad bus station on Thursday night and handed over to her parents.

The girl told the police that the other two went to their respective houses, but when the parents were contacted they informed that the girls had not reached home. The police teams then scanned CCTV footage from the route between the school and Navipet bus stand, as well as from the Nizamabad bus station and other locations within the district.

On Friday, the police located the remaining two girls in the temple town of Vemulawada. Navipet police sub-inspector Vinay travelled to Vemulawada and brought the girls back to their hometown.

Authorities believe that the three girls went out for a ‘joy trip.’ Taking advantage of the free travel facility on RTC buses, the trio used their Aadhaar cards to board the buses. It remains unclear where the two girls spent the night on Thursday.