Alert ticket checker spots runaway brothers at Kalyan station

It was later learnt that both the children had run away from their aunt’s house fearing she would reprimand them.

Mumbai: A ticket checker at Kalyan station on August 18 found a 9-year-old boy alone and crying. While the TC, Sunil Kumar Yadav, was trying to console the child, he noticed another boy aged 12 a little further away. Realising they both may be brothers, Yadav took them to the station master’s office.

Representative image (HT ARCHIVES)

It was later learnt that both the children had run away from their aunt’s house fearing she would reprimand them. The boys were unable to share many details except the fact that their grandfather was from Jalgaon. They did not even have any contact details.

Both boys were subsequently handed over to a childcare centre in Kalyan in the presence of the Railway Protection Force (RPF). Efforts are underway to trace their family.

Meanwhile, a total of eight cases of reuniting lost or runaway children have been registered with the Central Railway in August. Between April and August, 16 such cases were registered.

“The ticket checkers are angels in uniform for the families of the runaway or lost children. The hawk eye of our ticket checkers has helped reunite many children with their families,” said Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer, Central Railway.

In a similar incident of runaway children, TCs Deepak Patil and PP Lad were on duty at Dadar station on August 4 when two girls alighted from the Howrah CSMT mail at Dadar station. The girls panicked upon spotting the TCs.

When asked for the ticket, they claimed that they had been coming from Jabalpur station. As the train did not arrive from that direction, the ticket checkers tried to take the girls into confidence and counselled them. Eventually, they confessed to running away from home because they were being pressurised into marriage.

The girls were handed over to the family after four days in the presence of a childcare centre and RPF officials. According to Railway officials, such incidents are not very common but a spike has been observed after the results of board exams are declared.

“These are children who come to the railway station without informing their families due to some fight or some family issues or in search of a better life or lured by the glamour of city life. These children when detected are patiently counselled by the TC staff and information of their families is obtained which helps trace them to their parents or relatives, and are handed over to Child Care Centre with the help of on-duty RPF,” said a senior officer from Central Railway.