04 December,2025 10:57 AM IST | Akola | mid-day online correspondent
The police searched for the boy at the Pandharpur railway station and various other locations in the temple town. Representational Pic
Police have traced a missing 14-year-old boy from Akola to Pandharpur in Maharashtra, following a 21-day search that involved examining footage from nearly 200 CCTVs and covering around 1,500 km, officials said.
The boy, a resident of the Khadan police station area in Akola city, had left home on the evening of November 11 without informing anyone, reportedly after being scolded by his parents, reported news agency PTI.
His parents approached the police the next day, prompting the registration of a missing person case and the launch of an investigation.
However, the parents were unable to provide sufficient information to aid in locating the boy, District Superintendent of Police Archit Chandak told reporters on Wednesday.
The local crime branch team then collected information about the boy from his school, tuition classes and neighbours. The team also questioned the boy's parents, who told the police that they had scolded him before he left the home, the official said, reported PTI.
During examination of the CCTV footage at Akola railway station, the boy was seen boarding a Nagpur-Kolhapur express train at 8 pm on November 11.
A police team then travelled to seven cities, covering 1,500 km over several days. They examined the CCTV footage of various railway stations on the route, and the boy was seen getting down at Pandharpur railway station in Solapur district, located around 500 km from Akola, the official said.
The police then searched for the boy at the Pandharpur railway station and various other locations in the temple town. They finally traced him to Sargam Chowk in Pandharpur on December 2 and later handed him over to his parents, he said, reported PTI.
Chandak has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for the police team that traced the boy and reunited him with his family.
As many as 499 children were reported kidnapped in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai township between January and November this year and the police managed to trace 458 of them, while 41 remain missing, officials said on Wednesday, reported news agency PTI.
Among the 458 recovered children, the reasons for their disappearance indicated more of emotional distress and personal circumstances rather than criminal intent, as 128 of the cases were linked to love affairs and 114 to children running away after being scolded by parents, they said, reported PTI.
Besides, 103 children had gone to relatives, 63 left for trips, and 48 went to a girlfriend's house. One case each involved mental disability and an accidental death report (ADR), a police release said, reported PTI.
Among these overall figures, 25 cases pertained to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, it said.
Between January 1 and November 29 this year, 499 children, including 349 girls, were reported kidnapped in Navi Mumbai. The police traced 458 of them, including 315 girls, the release said, reported PTI.
The 41 children still missing comprise 34 girls and seven boys, it said.
The police registered 483 cases of these child kidnappings and solved 442 of them, achieving a detection rate of 91.78 per cent, as per the data, reported PTI.
The majority of these cases were registered in the Turbhe area (51), followed by Rabale (49), the release added.
(With PTI inputs)
