A 7-year-old girl was rescued from the Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday after two people allegedly kidnapped her from Noida for human sacrifice on Holi.

According to the police, one of the accused was the girl’s neighbour and was finding it difficult to get married. The man eventually consulted an occultist who directed the man to please the gods and told him that a human sacrifice would help him get married.

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Subsequently, on March 13, the girl went missing from her home in Chhijarsi village. A search for the girl carried out by locals proved futile, following which they filed an FIR with the police who started a prompt investigation.

“An FIR was lodged promptly under IPC section 363 (missing). Searches were launched while over 200 people were tracked through CCTV footage for their connection with the incident after which the two accused were zeroed in and arrested through manual inputs,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Harish Chander detailing the methods used for the investigation.

The police traced the girl to a Baghpat district house owned by a relative of the main accused in the case and rescued her.

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The arrested accused have been identified as Sonu Balmiki and his associate, Neeru. The occultist who advised Balmiki to carry out a human sacrifice has been identified as Satendra but is yet to be arrested and remains at large. Two other suspects who have not yet been named also remain at large according to the police.

Noida Police Commissioner Alok Singh meanwhile has announced a Rs 50,000 award for the police team involved in cracking the case and rescuing the 7-year-old.