23 January,2009 06:40 AM IST | | Kranti Vibhute
Unidentified man abducts Nishad Lavekar (11) from school and abandons him on a train; boy gets off at Khar only to be helped by another unknown person
Nishad Lavekar (11) hopes no child goes through the trauma he underwent. Nishad, a standard five student of St Teresa's High School in Girgaum, was abducted by a slim man with a grungy look on Wednesday morning.
As usual, Nishad's father, Prakash, dropped him to school at 7.30 am that day. However, after taking a few steps inside the school compound, Nishad realised he had forgotten some material for his craft class. He ran to the rear side of the school building (that has no watchman) to check if his father was still waiting. However, his father had already left. But when Nishad reached the gate, an unidentified man pulled him by a knife and dragged him away.
"He threatened me with knife and gave me a piece of cake as well. However, I did not eat the cake and put it in my bag. He then applied some liquid on my nose that made me dizzy. He boarded a taxi for Churchgate, but the driver got suspicious and asked him all sorts of questions.
He told the driver that I was his son who was feeling a bit sleepy and that he was taking me for tuitions," Nishad told MiD DAY. He does not remember anything except that he found himself alone in the ladies compartment of a train.
After a while, a lady woke him and asked him where he was heading. Nishad alighted from the train at Khar and asked an autorickshaw driver to take him to school. The driver drove him to all possible schools in Khar and tried to match Nishad's uniform. After an unsuccessful attempt, he asked for Nishad's calendar and called his father. Prakash went and got his son home.
He also launched an FIR with the V P Road police station. "I am very thankful to the driver who looked after my son and came all the way from Khar to Girgaum to record his statement," said Prakash. Inspector Rajendra Patil said, "We have already deployed cops to trace the culprit." Despite repeated attempts, nobody from the school was available for comment.
