Overview
- Two-year-old Sunkara Gnaneswari disappeared from a 50-acre oil palm plantation on June 6 after leaving home to look for her father and has not been found despite sustained searches.
- The family’s pet dog, which accompanied the child on June 6, returned alone on June 9 and later died at the family home; veterinarians performed a post-mortem and sent samples to the Visakhapatnam forensic laboratory for confirmation.
- More than 400 personnel from the police, SDRF, NDRF and forest department are using drones, thermal imaging, ground teams and telecom/CCTV analysis to search an area officials say extends roughly 10 to 20 kilometres from the plantation.
- Police say there is no sign of a planned abduction and the forest teams have detected no evidence of wild-animal attack, while a ₹1 lakh reward has been announced for information leading to the child’s tracing.
- The toddler’s mother has appealed for accurate information and prayers as investigators await forensic results from the dog and continue technical checks that officials say could produce the first credible leads.