Dipali Singh, 13, missing since March 18

A widow has approached the governor and the chief minister, urging them to order police to expedite the probe into the abduction of her 13-year-old daughter in March.

Pratima Singh, a resident of Kanchrapara, on the northern fringes of the city, has alleged that the police are sitting on the case.

Pratima, originally from Balia, in Bihar, lives on Nalini Basu Road. Her husband died a few years ago. Pratima works in a private company.

She said in her complaint that her daughter, Dipali, was abducted on March 18, while she was on her way to a neighbourhood shop. She was reportedly dragged into a car and whisked away.

Pratima gathered from witnesses that Mukesh Shaw, who had long been stalking Dipali, had kidnapped her.

She lodged a police complaint against Mukesh and some of his relatives, but the cops allegedly did not take any action to track down the girl or the prime accused.

The “inaction” prompted Pratima to move the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Barrackpore. Acting on a court order, the police rounded up two of the accused, Sanjay Yadav and Bharati Devi, but they had to be released because of a lack of evidence against them.

Ever since, Pratima has been receiving anonymous calls asking her to withdraw the case or face dire consequences.

“Finding no alternative, I have appealed to Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and director-general of police A.B. Vohra to help me get back my daughter and save our lives,” said Pratima.

Her lawyer Dipit Bose said his client fears that she and her daughter will be killed if there is any further delay in tracking down the kidnapper and his aides.