E-Paper
WhatsApp helps boy’s reunion with kin in MP
Eight months after he allegedly fled from home, a nine-year-old boy was reunited with his family courtesy prompt action by two locals who found him in a village in Betul in MP and informed the police and a photograph that the local police then sent through WhatsApp to their counterparts 600 kms away in Rewa.
Eight months after he allegedly fled from home, a nine-year-old boy was reunited with his family courtesy prompt action by two locals who found him in a village in Betul in MP and informed the police and a photograph that the local police then sent through WhatsApp to their counterparts 600 kms away in Rewa.
The boy, Ajit Kushwaha, a resident of Umri village in Rewa, had gone missing on April 1 this year. He was living in Koylari village with a farmer’s family in Betul, when the Shahpur police got information about him. They sent his photographs to the police station concerned in Rewa where his identity was confirmed following which he was reunited with his family.
According to the town inspector, Shahpur, Rajendra Dhurve, the boy had fled from his house with a 10-year-old boy Sunil Vishwakarma, also a resident of the same village. They reached Itarsi near Bhopal in a train and lived there for about three months and earning a living by picking rags. They had a dispute over some issue after which Sunil returned to his native place while Ajit moved on to Betul with another boy.
“After reaching Koylari village, the other boy left, leaving Ajit alone. A local farmer found him sitting alone at a lonely place and took him home where he lived for about two months,” Dhurve told HT.
On December 1, Ajit was sitting at a grocery store in the village when two locals noticed him and asked about his address. Ajit told them that he is a resident of Umri village in Rewa.
“The two men then informed the police on Dial 100 service. A team reached the spot and asked the boy his address and father’s name. After finding that the village comes under Kotwali police station, we informed them and sent the boy’s photographs through WhatsApp the same day. On checking the photographs, the town inspector immediately identified Ajit,” said Dhurve.
The Kotwali police immediately informed Ajit’s parents who then reached Betul on December 2 to receive him.
Speaking to the HT, investigating officer of his missing case in Kotwali, Rewa, assistant sub-inspector, Ahsraf Ali said that they had looked for him in Itarsi and Bhopal but didn’t get any clues.
“We tried our level best to search him by putting up posters at different places in the Rewa, Itarsi and Bhopal but nobody gave any information about him. What our efforts over eight months couldn’t do, the photographs sent through WhatsApp did that in about two hours,” said Ali.
