YouTuber Nischay Malhan (Image source: TriggeredInsaan/ Twitter)A 13-year-old boy from Patiala pedalled all the way to Delhi on his bicycle to meet his favourite YouTuber.
Police said that the boy’s family had filed a missing complaint after he had left home on October 4. He was finally found in Delhi Friday late in a coordinated effort by Patiala and Delhi Police.
The boy was reunited with his family in Patiala on Saturday.
Patiala Police said that Viresh Bhushan (13), a resident of Patiala’s Harinder Nagar, was a fan of Nischay Malhan, a YouTuber who is popular by the name of “Triggered Insaan”.
“The boy used to call himself a well-wisher of Malhan and decided to meet him. He left for Delhi on his bicycle and reached there after pedalling more than 250 km,” said police.
Patiala SSP Deepak Pareek said that Bhushan had left for school from his home on the morning of October 4 but did not return home. His family then filed a police complaint at Anaaj Mandi police station following which an FIR under Section 346 of IPC was registered and several teams were formed to trace him.
The cyber cell of Patiala police found during the probe that the boy was too active on social media and followed Malhan on YouTube. For quite some time he was yearning to meet Malhan who was his favourite, said police. Later it emerged that he left for Delhi on his bicycle.
SSP Pareek said that teams were formed to check CCTV cameras on the entire route from the boy’s home in Patiala to Delhi. CCTV cameras were checked from Sirhind road, Punjabi University campus road, toll plaza Bahadurgarh to Shambhu police station. “The CCTV cameras on the entire route were checked which revealed that the boy crossed Shambhu border toll plaza on his bicycle around 10.30 am on October 4,” said the SSP. The cyber cell team of Patiala reached Delhi to locate him.
His bicycle was recovered from the parking lot outside Malhan’s residence, said the police. However, the boy was found in a park near Chitrakoot Apartments in Delhi’s Pitampura area and was brought back. He was handed over to his family on Saturday.
Malhan has 16.9 million subscribers on YouTube. The Delhi police said the boy was “inspired by” Malhan’s videos and wanted to meet him.
The family also sought help on social media after CCTV footage of a nearby road showed the boy in his school uniform riding his cycle.
“The case was reported at Patiala’s Anaj Mandi police station and we were informed at Maurya Enclave police station about the same. Since the YouTuber lives in Pitampura, we deployed a team and started looking for the child,” Usha Rangnani, DCP (Northwest) said.
“We finally found CCTV footage near the YouTuber’s house in which the boy was seen. On enquiry, it was found that said YouTuber was not present in his apartment and was in Dubai to attend a family function,” said the DCP.
The Delhi police started looking for possible routes that the boy could have taken and worked in coordination with the Patiala police. On Friday evening, the boy was eventually located at Pitampura district park.
Meanwhile, Malhan, who was not in the city when the boy reached his house to meet him, in a tweet had also asked Delhi Police to find his “missing young fan” and informed that he was in Dubai. After the boy was reunited with the family, he again tweeted: “He has been found, Good News He’s now with his family, safe and secure..”
The boy’s family thanked the Delhi and Punjab Police on Twitter. The boy’s grandfather, a retired officer from a bank, said, “My grandson was misguided…He left the house on October 4. Instead of going to school, he left for Delhi. We searched cameras from Patiala to Karnal and found he left. We met officials in Delhi and found that Delhi Police was already on the case. I am thankful to the police staff…They searched for my grandson all night. They promised me they would find my grandson and they did. I have no words to convey my thanks…,” he said.