Ballia: A man, who is suspected to be the father of a year-old girl found abandoned at the Varanasi ghat after the blast, has been detained for questioning, police said on Monday.

Nilesh Pandey alias Tuntun, who works as a guard in Varanasi, was taken into custody from Gadwara in Ballia and interrogated in connection with abandoning the child, Superintendent of Police V K Shekhar said, adding that Nilesh's statements were "contradictory and unclear".

After child's photographs were published in various media, it was found that Gauri is the daughter of one Gita and Nilesh.

The couple reportedly resided in a rented accommodation in Jawahar Nagar extension in Varanasi, however, the room where the family lived is locked and the landlord said Nilesh had gone to Balia with his family the day the blast occurred.

Sister Linci, coordinator of Child Line, the children's home where the girl is being kept, had said when they called up on Nilesh's mobile number given by the landlord, they were told by the respondent that his daughter had died and disconnected the phone, after which it was switched off.

Gauri was found abandoned on December 7 at the Shitla ghat, the site of the blast which killed 2 persons, including a two-year-old girl.

Tags: Varanasi baby, Varanasi blast, Varanasi ghat

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