The 17-year-old girl missing since February 28 was recovered on Thursday night, a day after an FIR was lodged against the authorities of a reputable school.

Confirming the development, Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jitender Rana said: "The girl was recovered from the Patna Junction station around 9pm. She is with the police now and is being debriefed."

A source said some passengers spotted the girl crying on platform No. 1 of the station. The police learnt about it from their sources and a team rushed to the station to recover the girl.

The girl was taken to the Patna SSP's office for questioning around 9.40pm. The circumstances under which she reached the station were not clear till the filing of this report.

Earlier in the day, the police scanned the CCTV footage of February 28 showing the girl sitting in an autorickshaw near Sheikhpura Mor, around 1km west of her school. But the quality of the video was so poor, the police could not get the registration number of the vehicle.

The girl had gone to her school on February 28 with her father to deposit her fee.

After watching the CCTV footage, the SSP had said: "The footage of February 28 shows the girl sitting in an autorickshaw near the JD Women's College and moving towards Sheikhpura Mor. This was on the same day she went missing. The police tried to enlarge the CCTV feed and get the registration number of the vehicle, but the results have not been good. The number is unreadable. Some technical experts will be approached for help in determining the vehicle number. The police will get a lead once the vehicle is identified."

An FIR was lodged against the administration of a reputable city school she reportedly studied in on Wednesday with Shastri Nagar police station for providing false information regarding her and anomalies related to admissions as well as examinations.