Three girls, who went missing Mathru Sakthi, Vidyarthi Sadanam at Thottakadu in Aluva, were found at Koratti in Thrissur on Thursday. The girls were travelling in a KSRTC bus.
Police had circulated details of the missing girls in WhatsApp groups of KSRTC, private buses and autorickshaws. The conductor of the KSRTC bus identified the girls and reported that to the Koratti policem who in turn informed the Aluva East police.
The bus was halted near Koratti police station. The girls were handed over to the police team from Aluva East police who took the girls to the hospital for medical examination. The girls will be presented at child welfare centre, an officer said.
The police have learnt that the girls, who were unhappy with other inmates of the orphanage, wanted to travel to Kakkanad to meet the child welfare committee and tell the authorities about their issues.
The girls who left the orphanage at around 12.48 am went to Aluva railway station and took a train. In the middle of the jounrey, they realised that they had boarded the wrong train and got off at Thrissur.
From there they took a KSRTC bus and were on their way to Angamaly when the conductor spotted them. They had run out of cash and took tickets to Angamaly, police said.
Girls aged 18, 16 and 15 went missing from the orphanage late Wednesday night. The police had ruled out kidnap as the CCTV visuals showed them leaving with bags and umbrellas via the rear-end gate of the facility at 12.48 am.
"We believe the inmates had planned the escape. One of the children, who is a Plus One student, skipped classes saying she was unwell. The visuals also showed them leaving with their bags," an officer of the investigating team told Onmanorama.
The 18- year-old inmate has been staying at the orphanage for seven years. The other two girls were brought to the orphanage two years ago, police said.