Aadhaar Trail Helps Trace Bengaluru Students Tanishka And Tejaswini After Months

Two Bengaluru college students, Tanishka R and Tejaswini, who went missing from Vidyaranyapura on January 31, have been traced by the CID after months of investigation, according to several Bengaluru reports. However, the latest PTI account says only Tanishka was traced, leaving Tejaswini’s status unclear.

Tanishka was a second PUC student, while Tejaswini was studying in first PUC when they disappeared after telling their families they were going to college. They left behind their mobile phones and other belongings, carrying only their Aadhaar cards and college bags. They later travelled to Male Mahadeshwara Hills, where they were reportedly seen playing with a child and appeared in a selfie taken by the child’s mother.

Police teams searched more than 100 locations, including Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Varanasi, Kerala, Chamarajanagar and Mysuru. After the initial investigation failed to produce results, Tanishka’s family approached the Karnataka High Court, which transferred the case to the CID in April.

According to reports from Bengaluru, the girls later met a young man from Kanakapura taluk at the hill shrine. Tanishka reportedly told him that she and Tejaswini were sisters and had no parents. The man then took them to Kanakapura. Reports say he later married Tanishka and kept Tejaswini at his home, introducing her as his sister. Tanishka is now pregnant.

The breakthrough came when Tanishka’s Aadhaar details were recently used, with reports differing on whether the transaction involved a new SIM or registration for a government welfare scheme. Investigators traced the associated mobile number and eventually located her.

Several local reports published on September 9 and 10 said both Tanishka and Tejaswini had been traced and were to be produced before the High Court. However, PTI and Indian Express reported that Tanishka alone had been traced and that the minor Tejaswini remained untraced.

The CID’s investigation and the girls’ status are therefore still subject to clarification from authorities.