Police, after failing to locate the boy within 24 hours, had taken to WhatsApp to share his photo and other details on an interstate police WhatsApp group. (Representational Image)
A six-year-old boy who had gone missing from his home in East Vinod Nagar has been reunited with his family, 24 hours after he left his home and boarded a bus to Sector 20 in Noida, police said. Police, after failing to locate the boy within 24 hours, had taken to WhatsApp to share his photo and other details on an interstate police WhatsApp group. This, eventually, helped a unit from Noida Sector 20 police station locate the boy.
“The boy has been rescued by our team. We just asked some basic questions as he was not able to talk properly. He said he roamed around and boarded a bus,” said Manish Saxena, SHO of the police station.
The boy’s father is a rickshaw puller, police said, adding that the boy had left home on several occasions, only to return after a few hours. However, this time, when he did not return for six hours , the family approached police.
“We conducted a medical examination of the child and found no external injuries. He was not abducted from his house, but had gone missing,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Pankaj Kumar Singh. He added that Delhi Police made an interstate police WhatsApp group with Uttar Pradesh Police, following an interstate meeting between the two forces in May.