Four siblings who left their home in Mulund last week to escape family problems were reunited with their mother on Thursday afternoon.
According to Mulund police, Kishor Solanki (12), Bhanva Solanki (11), Akash Solanki (7) and Tejal Solanki (5), stayed on S.V. Road in Mulund and were stressed over constant fights between their mother and stepfather.
On the morning of December 7, when their mother, who sold flowers for a living, left for work, the four set out of the house. They wandered around the city on the local trains and slept on railway platforms for a week. They were at the mercy of strangers for food and drink. When their mother, Nita, found that her children had not returned home till the next morning, she approached Mulund police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone VII) Akhilesh Singh said, “We set up teams and sent them to different railway stations to check if they had boarded trains. We spoke to senior officers in the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police. We requested them to permit us to view CCTV footage from various railway stations to find the missing children.”
The Mulund police found a flower seller who said he saw the children boarding a train at Thane station on December 7. Over the next seven days, the Mulund police, in coordination with the RPF and the GRP, viewed footage from 160 cameras at Thane station and other stations on the Central and Harbour Line. The police also set up teams to monitor real-time CCTV feed to spot the children.
On Thursday morning, a team of policemen spotted the children alighting from a train from Panvel on the Harbour line platform at Thane station. The police immediately intercepted the children and brought them to Mulund police station.
Mr Singh said, “Fortunately, the children did not come into harm’s way. As they were travelling in a group, no one tried to take advantage of them. However, as they stayed together, no one suspected them to be runaways. They ate food at temples and slept on railway platforms.”
