12-year-old missing Bengaluru boy found in Hyderabad, pictures in social media help identify him

PTI

Bengaluru, January 24

Since January 21, when he went missing -- he left his coaching centre in Whitefield in Bengaluru and did not return home -- 12-year-old Parinav, a student of Deens Academy, Gunjur branch, had always been one step ahead of the police.

By the time, the police tracked him through CCTV footage to a place, he had already left it for another. They hit a dead-end at, ironically, Majestic bus station – the fulcrum of Bengaluru that connects the city to every other corner in the state and beyond.

This is when the social media stepped in. Even as a few people volunteered to go physically to Majestic, many did what they do best – circulate the posters of the boy online.

Thanks to the widely circulated pictures, on Wednesday morning, a Bengaluru resident on visit to Hyderabad, saw a boy resembling the pictures on her phone, on the same metro as her and confronted him. Much to the joy of his family, the boy confirmed his identity and was detained at Nampally metro station in Hyderabad.

“We ourselves don't know the exact details as to how he ended up there. We are now rushing to Hyderabad to pick him up, will update once we know all the details. But I want to thank all those nameless strangers who helped us find my boy. Without his picture being splashed all over, the person in Hyderabad would never have thought to stop a boy and ask,” said Sukesh, Parinav's father, a software engineer residing in Whitefield.

Parinav’s mother, who had earlier posted a video urging him to return home, which was also widely circulated on the social media, has now posted another video, thanking all those who helped them find the boy, a Class 6 student, who has been handed over to Nampally railway authorities. 

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