Surat, Jun 4 (PTI) A stray dog dragged away a one-year-old girl into fields from outside a makeshift hut in Surat district, leading to a massive multi-agency search operation involving drones, police said on Wednesday.

During the search operation, the toddler's blood-soaked pants were recovered from the bushes.

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Joint teams comprising local police, the Surat Fire Brigade, Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), Dog Squad, and Forest Department have been combing the area, however, the child remains missing, said police inspector AD Chavda.

The incident occurred at Vav village in Kamrej taluka, where a group of construction labourers had set up temporary shelters.

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"Around 10 pm on Tuesday, while the girl's parents were cooking dinner, a stray dog entered their hut and suddenly grabbed the child. Before they could react, the dog ran toward nearby fields, crossing a creek," Chavda stated.

Despite immediate efforts by fellow labourers and residents to track the dog, they were unable to locate either the animal or the child.

The police were alerted the same night, and a search was carried out with the help of nearly 200 locals until 2 am, but without success.

The operation resumed Wednesday morning with additional support from various municipal and emergency teams.

"During the search, we discovered the toddler's blood-stained pants in the bushes. Drones have now been deployed to scan the area thoroughly," Chavda said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)