The 12-year-old went missing from his home in Nalasopara in November last year. His relatives found his details on a website and got his custody on Monday
Devesh Pande
After looking for their lost son for almost four months, 12-year-old Devesh Pande’s parents were reunited with him on March 2. The boy, originally from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, went missing from his residence in Nalasopara in November 2014.
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Devesh Pande
Lost and found
Devesh had come to Mumbai in May last year with his father Satendra Pande and was staying at his uncle and aunt’s place at Vinayak Nagar in Nalasopara. The Class 6 student got admission in Thakur Vidyalaya, where he took classes and tuition. On November 5, he left the house at around 12.50 pm and took a Churchgate-bound train from Nalasopara.
Seeing an unaccompanied young boy, a man took him to the Bandra Railway Police and handed him over to them. When asked to give his full address, he was unable to do so. Senior inspector Anil Walzade, Bandra railway police said, “All he said was that he is from Nalasopara. We then sent him to a remand home at Mankhurd and informed the police in Nalasopara. We also uploaded his details on railway police’s online portal Shodh.”
Devesh’s aunt Vandana Pande said that he had an argument with her on the day he went missing. “The area where we stay is not so good and I had asked him to stay inside, but he got bored and had a small fight with me before heading out for tuition. Later, I learnt that he never reached his class. When he did not return the next day, we filed a missing complaint at Nalasopara police station.”
On February 26, a relative found Devesh’s details on a website called Shodh. The family immediately went to Bandra railway police station, but they got his custody only on March 2 after he was produced in court.