Kasaragod: The Hosdurg Police has released the photos of P A Saleem of Madichery in Coorg, the accused in the kidnap and rape case of a nine-year-old girl. 

According to the police, after the heinous crime that was carried out under the Hosdurg Police Station limits, Saleem fled to Karnataka. The police have intensified their search for him on the Kerala-Karnataka border. 

Saleem has been living with his wife in the neighbourhood of the girl for many years. It was also learned that Saleem was also accused in a similar pocso case registered by the Kasaragod Melparamba Police.

The case is being probed by a team of three DySPs led by Kasaragod Police chief P Bijoy. 

The child was sleeping in the wee hours of Wednesday when she was kidnapped by Saleem who took her to a field at around half kilometre away. He had also stolen the girl’s gold earrings before abandoning her.