Srinagar, July 28 : The Jammu and Kashmir Police Thursday denied media
reports that a British girl who had reportedly gone missing in Portugal
four years ago was found in Leh.
Talking to some media persons here Thursday evening, Abdul Gani Mir,
deputy inspector general of police (DIG), said: "We have not recovered
any missing foreign girl from Leh."
"There is no question of carrying out a DNA test since we don't have the
girl. Our field staff in Leh have confirmed that no such girl has been
recovered by them."
"A British media report said that a girl missing for the last four years
from Portugal had been sighted in Leh district of the state. We have no
such confirmation from either the police or the district
administration," the DIG said.
Earlier, a British newspaper report had said a four-year-old British
girl, who was allegedly kidnapped while on a holiday in Portugal in
2007, has reportedly been tracked down to Leh city in India's Jammu and
Kashmir state.
The report in the Daily Mail also said the parents of Madeleine McCann
are, however, awaiting the results of a DNA test on the girl.
Kate and Gerry McCann's team of private investigators said they were
working with Leh police who were alerted after a British woman spotted a
girl she thought to be Madeleine. The abducted girl would now be eight
years old.
"Madeleine was about to celebrate her fourth birthday when she went
missing on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007," the
daily said.
"The woman who found the girl raised concerns with other tourists who
agreed with her."
"An American man even reportedly tried to take the girl from the couple
with whom she was."
"However, the French woman and her Belgian husband insisted they were
the parents of the girl.
"Leh police have now taken swabs so that DNA tests can be carried out on
the girl," the Daily Mail report had said.
Kate and Gerry McCann recently launched a book about how she
disappeared. Proceeds from the book, titled "Madeleine" go towards the
funding of their search for their daughter.
The official Portuguese inquiry into the girl's disappearance was
formally shelved in July 2008.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has also asked Scotland Yard to
carry out a review of the investigation, the Daily Mail report said.
--IANS |