Missing minor from Bengaluru found in Nampally

The 12-year-old student of Deens Academy, Gunjur, who was reported missing from Whitefield, Bengaluru, on Sunday was traced at Nampally metro station in Hyderabad early on Tuesday morning.

 “The child is now safe with his parents. We have received confirmation from the Hyderabad police as well,” Shivakumar Gunare, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Whitefield, told The Hindu confirming the news. The minor’s family left for Hyderabad on Tuesday night after receiving information that he was found, he added. The family was on the way back from Hyderabad to Bengaluru at the time of enquiry.

A woman in Hyderabad, who was previously working in Bengaluru and had come across a social media post of the missing boy, spotted the boy near the station and promptly flagged it to the family and police.  The investigation is still underway to ascertain the reasons for the child going missing. However, the initial investigation revealed that he was caught copying in the class for which his parents were called. But before the parents reached the tutoring centre (Allen Institute in Whitefield), the child had left and had reportedly boarded a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus from the Marathahalli bridge to Majestic around 3 p.m. on Sunday, based on CCTV footage. The footage showed Parinav wearing a yellow T-shirt, dark trousers and a backpack.

Since then, social media has been abuzz with posters of the young boy and requests from netizens for information regarding his whereabouts. In a video shared on social media, his mother was seen appealing to him to come back and not be scared of anything. “The child needs special attention from his father. Whenever his father would teach, he secured above 90% marks but if he neglected, he scored zero,” Mr. Gunare revealed. Sukesh, his father, is currently working in a software company in Bengaluru and could not be reached. 

Investigation is also underway to ascertain how he managed to secure enough money to travel to Hyderabad and sustain himself, as according to the parents, the child did not have any mobile phone or cash on him.