Three girls, students at a private pre-university college, reportedly escaped from a hostel in Mangaluru, in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Soon after a missing persons’ complaint was filed, senior police officials visited the hostel, the college and inspected CCTV footage for clues. A video showed the students stepping out of the hostel with their luggage.
The police investigating the case were in constant touch with family members, sources said.
The escape was pre-planned, the police suspected as some of the window beams from the rooms were missing. The police suspected that the students used a hacksaw blade and escaped from the hostel through the windows. “We are hopeful of tracing them at the earliest,” an officer said.
The police also shared the girls’ details with police stations across the state, as they widened their search and investigation.
Since running away, the students have not contacted their families, the police said.
According to the police, two of the girls were from Bengaluru, and the third from Chitradurga. Mangaluru Commissioner of Police N Shashi Kumar said the search for the missing girls was on.