LAHORE, April 6: Three girls studying in a seminary in Gujjarpura reportedly went missing on Friday. Police which traced their whereabouts in the evening suspects that their escape has something to do with the `harsh mode of teaching’ at the seminary.

It said that Sadia, Iram and Saba - aged between 16 and 18 - of Yaqoob Colony, Singhpura and Bogewala, respectively, are the students of seminary Syed Shahabuddin Shah, Shawala Chowk, Islampura.

Said to be close friends, the girls left the seminary at 11am on Friday for their homes but did not reach there. Their parents searched them for several hours but to no avail.

In the evening, Sadia reportedly contacted her father by phone and said that they had been kidnapped by Anjum, a UET employee, who had detained them in his house at Warburton, Nankana Sahib district.

Later, accused Anjum also contacted Sadia’s father and told him that the girls had met him at the Lahore Railway Station and sought his help for “being orphan”.

“I have brought them to my hometown just to help them,” Anjum reportedly told Sadia’s father.

The Mughalpura SP told Dawn that a team had been sent to Warburton for the recovery of the girls. He said the girls were apparently not happy with harsh treatment being meted out to them at the seminary. —Staff Reporter