12-yr-old gets lost after cycling 26 km to Red Fort, rescued
New Delhi, Nov. 28: Keen to see Delhi, especially its historic monuments, a 12-yearold boy cycled 26 km from his home in Uttam Nagar to reach the Red Fort only to later realise that he had forgotten his way back home.
Lost in the bustling Old Delhi area, the boy, terrified as the sun set, looked for help and hoped somebody would guide him back to Nawada in Uttam Nagar in the western part of the national capital.
However, even in those moments, the 12-year-old remembered how in such situations only the police could be trusted. After roaming around the Red Fort area for a while, he spotted a mobile police control room (PCR) van. The boy was terrified when he reached the PCR van, the police officials said as they narrated the November 23 incident.
The personnel calmed him down and asked him where he lived. Though he gave vague directions, he could not remember the exact route back home, a senior official said, adding that he did mention the Uttam Nagar Metro station.
The police did not reveal the boy’s name as he is a minor.
They said that the Kotwali station house officer reached the spot where the PCR van was stationed and took the boy to the Kotwali police station. Though the boy had heard about the Red Fort, he never imagined he would reach it, the officials said.
Constable Vinay Vasla was tasked to safely drop the boy back to his home, they said, adding that the boy told the police that he could guide them to Nawada from the Uttam Nagar Metro station.
The boy was taken home and reunited with his anxiously waiting family members, the officials said.
His father said that even last month he had taken his cycle and gone away and a missing report was lodged, the police officer said.
The boy’s father said that if he had not returned home by night, another missing report would have been lodged, Mr Vasla said.
The police officials said that the boy lives in a rented accommodation at Nawada village with his grandparents and father, who is a painter.