A 14-year-old boy, who went missing two years ago from Narela, has been reunited with his family, the police said on Wednesday.
The boy was staying in Sisganj Gurdwara for the past two years and was recently identified by a man who had seen his picture in a pamphlet at Old Delhi railway station.
Ran away from school
The boy, a Class V student of a government school in Narela, has run away from school two years ago after being reprimanded by his family members for not faring well in studies, the police said. A complaint was filed in this regard in 2017. The complainant said that his 12-year-old nephew had been missing since February 13, 2017.
“The boy belongs to Shamli in Uttar Pradesh and had been staying with his uncle in Delhi. On February 13, 2017, the boy had run away from school in his uniform,” said Rajiv Ranjan, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime).
A case was registered and an investigation was taken up by the local police initially but it was later transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Crime Branch, Mr. Ranjan said.
The Crime Branch teams visited Haridwar, Meerut, Mumbai, Roorkee, Kerala, Shamli and Saharanpur in search of the child, but in vain. A cash reward of ₹50,000 was also declared.
Notice at rail station
A few days ago, a good samaritan saw the picture of the missing boy on a ‘hue and cry notice’ pasted at Old Delhi railway station and recalled that he had seen and spoken to the boy at a langar at Sisganj Gurdwara recently.
He informed the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Crime Branch after noting down the contact details from the notice, the officer said.
On Tuesday, the boy was spotted near Sisganj Gurdwara and was reunited with his family after he was produced before the Child Welfare Committee.
The boy did not allege any maltreatment by anyone. He stated that he had run away from school after being reprimanded by his family members for not faring well in studies, the officer added.
For the past two years, he had been moving from place to place in Delhi and had finally settled near Sisganj Gurdwara.
He would often work, eat and sleep in the gurdwara, the police added.
