BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Friday took to task the Hubli police for its failure in tracing a minor girl, who was allegedly kidnapped more than five months ago.

The court warned the Hubli police that it will hand over the investigation of the case to either the Central Bureau of Investigation or the Corps of Detectives if it fails to trace the girl by March 21.

A Division Bench comprising Justice P. Vishwanath Shetty, and Justice N. Kumar observed that that the Commissioner of Police, Hubli, will have to be present in the court on March 21 if, by that date, the police are unable to trace the girl.

Pulling up the police for the way the investigation was conducted, the Bench said that prima facie it is inclined to believe that the police have not taken the complaint seriously. The Bench was dealing with a habeas corpus petition by Doddappa Bakale of Hubli complaining that the Old Town police of Hubli had failed to trace his 17-year-old daughter, who was allegedly kidnapped in September 2005 by Feroze. Mr. Bakale alleged that his daughter was being illegally detained by Feroze with the help of his relatives and friends.

Coming down heavily on the police as they had failed to trace the missing girl despite a specific complaint about her "kidnappers," the court observed that the conduct of the police showed their "inefficiency or lethargy or indifference" towards the complaint.

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