Mangaluru : In an interesting turn of events, two cases of kidnapping were booked by the police of Mangaluru and Dharwad involving a minor (17-year-old) girl.

Mangaluru city police booked a case of kidnapping against a group of people based on a complaint by a relative of the girl. Meanwhile, the Dharwad Rural police booked a case against a youth who allegedly brought the girl to Mangaluru, based on a complaint by her parents.

Mangaluru police arrested six persons, including the driver of a private night-service bus, on Wednesday. Dharwad police reportedly took custody of the girl, her relative and the youth who brought her to Mangaluru, on Thursday.

According to the police, Sadique of Gangavati, who was working as the crew of a private bus in Mangaluru, was staying with a man named Mallesh near Krishnapura, Surathkal. Through Mallesh, he befriended the girl from Dharwad, the former’s relative who was already married. The two fell in love.

On Tuesday night, the couple was travelling by a night-service bus from Dharwad to Surathkal and the driver recognised Sadique. He reportedly tipped-off some Hindu activists and did not stop the bus at Surathkal. Instead, he stopped near KPT in Mangaluru, where a few activists took the couple to a house in Kodikal.

With the help of a people’s representative, the activists handed over the couple to Urwa police after allegedly beating up Sadique. Meanwhile, Mallesh gave a complaint of kidnap of his relative against the activists. Urwa police arrested the bus driver, Purushottam, and five others — Sharath, Hira Babu alias Veera Babu, Santosh, Anil, and Narendra. They were granted bail by a jurisdictional court on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, a large number of people belonging to Hindutva outfits, besides the BJP, held a protest outside Urwa police station. They claimed the activists had saved the minor girl who was being pushed to sex work. The former Minister J. Krishna Palemar was among those who led the protest.