Cops hope to rescue abducted girl in 12 hours

Vijayawada, Feb 2 : Policemen seemed to have achieved a breakthrough in the kidnap of nine-year-old Vaishnavi after questioning her father Palagani Prabhakar for two hours on Sunday evening.The police, who believed that it was the handiwork of Prabhakar's kin, zeoed in on two of his relatives. One is Prabhakar's brother-in-law (first wife's brother) Venkata Rao, also a bar owner on Eluru Road.After the interrogation of Venkata Rao, it was learnt he spilled the beans and owned the crime.

Soon after the girl's kidnapped, the house of Palagani's first wife was not seen for some time giving credence to the police doubts. Vaishnavi and her brother were the children of Palagani's second wife Narmada. Palagani married Narmada after his first wife failed to conceive several years after her marriage.Police commissioner KV Rajendranath Reddy maintains that details of the story would be revealed after Vaishnavi is rescued from the abductors. The police took into custody two of Palagani's relatives and have been interrogating them at a guest house.

The police exuded confidence that they would unravel the kidnap mystery by Tuesday morning. The cops suspect that Palagani's relatives might have hired professional gangs to abduct the child as they left no clue. They killed driver Lakhsmana Rao as he knew the identity of one of the assailants. The police took into custody several rowdy-sheeters of the city and Guntur district to `question' them.If all goes well, Vaishavi would be freed within 12 hours, the cops hope.