A 15-year-old state-level rifle shooter from Howrah has gone missing under mysterious circumstances after stepping out of her home on Thursday morning to buy milk, just hours before she was scheduled to participate in a shooting tournament.
The missing teenager, Damayanti Sen, is a resident of 30/2 Uma Charan Bhattacharya Lane in central Howrah and trains at Olympian Joydeep Karmakar's Rifle Shooting Academy.
According to her family, Damayanti left home at around 9 am on Thursday, the day of Rath Yatra, to make a purchase from a nearby shop. When she failed to return even after half an hour, her family initially assumed she had gone for her usual morning walk along the river. However, after searching the area without success, they approached the police and lodged a missing person's complaint.
CCTV footage later revealed that Damayanti entered Howrah railway station at 9:46 am. She was last seen at around 10:01 am, walking towards Platforms 4 and 5. Her family believes that local trains bound for Arambagh and Bardhaman were present at the station around that time.
Despite extensive searches, there has been no confirmed trace of the teenager.
Her father, Dhruvajyoti Sen, said Damayanti was wearing a pink outfit when she left home. He added that she did not carry her mobile phone, which was found at the house after her disappearance.
The family has also searched nearby locations, including Sheoraphuli, but without success.
Damayanti recently earned an opportunity to participate in the national team selection trials and was preparing intensively for the competition. According to her family, she had gone to bed early the previous night ahead of the tournament and had shown no signs of distress or personal issues.
Police have registered a missing person case at Howrah Police Station and launched an investigation. Her father has also appealed for information through social media, where posts about her disappearance have been widely shared.
Following the viral appeal, the family has received several calls claiming to have spotted Damayanti in different locations. However, none of the leads have been verified. One such tip from Bardhaman was later found to be unrelated after police confirmed that the girl seen there was not Damayanti.
The investigation is ongoing, and police are examining CCTV footage and pursuing all available leads to trace the missing teenager.
