12-year-old boy, gone missing in Indian city, found after three days

A 12-year-old Indian boy, who had been missing since Sunday from the Indian city of Bengaluru, was found at a metro station in another city Hyderabad on Wednesday morning (Jan 24).

The missing boy was traced after a request made on social media led to a frantic search for him.The two metro cities are nearly 570 km apart.

Parinav, who is a student of Class 6 in Deens Academy, somehow escaped the police, who were making efforts to track him for the last three days.

By the time the cops used to reach the place where the boy was last seen, he had already left for another spot.

The boy was seen departing a coaching centre in Whitefield at nearly 11 am and then visited a petrol pump near Yemlur around 3 pm. He was last seen deboarding a bus in Bengaluru's Majestic bus terminus in the evening.

Social media post triggers frantic search

The boy's worried parents took to social media to seek help in finding the child. They made a request online to find their child and also shared CCTV footage which showed him walking across a road.

The post on social media prompted a frantic search for the boy by many users, as some even volunteered to physically visit Majestic. The mother of the boy also shared a video appealing to him to return home.

The boy's image was widely circulated online and after this, a passenger finally identified the boy in the metro.

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After the boy was confronted, he confirmed his identity at the Nampally metro station in Hyderabad on Wednesday (Jan 24), three nights after he went missing.

His parents were informed about their child, after which they left for Hyderabad.

Parinav's father Sukesh, an engineer, said that he was not aware of how the boy ended up at the metro station.

"I really want to thank all those nameless strangers who helped us in finding my boy. Without his picture being splashed all over, the person in Hyderabad would never have thought to stop a boy and ask," he said.

The boy's mother also confirmed that the boy was found in Hyderabad and thanked everyone in the family who helped in finding the boy. She said that the boy was safe and that they were going to bring him back.

(With inputs from agencies)