Vishakapatnam, July 01: The five schoolchildren of Bhashyam School in the city, who left their respective homes more than a week back to undertake a pleasure trip, were finally traced in Visakhapatnam. They were caught by the Government Railway Police (GRP) after they landed in Visakhapatnam railway station on the East Coast Express late on Tuesday night.
The five students, P Hari Sankar, A Srinivas and G Uday (aged 15 and Class X students) and K Murali and N Yogesh (both 11 and studying in Class VI), left their respective homes on June 24 morning. Santoshnagar police inspector Ch Sudhakar said the five children hired a taxi and left for the Imlibun bus station the same day. From there, they boarded a bus to Tirupati. The next day, all the five took a bus to the city, police investigations revealed.
Police and the children’s parents were relieved when they got to know that the group was headed back to the city. But the children once again returned to Tirupati by train. “On their way back from Tirupati, they hired a taxi and returned to the city,” Sudhakar said and added that the children might have left home because they wanted an adventure trip and see new places.
After reaching Hyderabad, they boarded the East Coast Express to Visakhapatnam. But the children ran out of money and one of them, Hari Shankar, called up his uncle in Visakhapatnam and sought money.
Hari Shankar left home after taking Rs 40,000 without the knowledge of his parents.
“On information, we alerted the GRP at Visakhapatnam who caught the five children after they alighted the train around midnight,” Sudhakar said.
GRP inspector P Srinivasa Rao found the five students roaming suspiciously on the platform and caught them.
The parents of the five rushed to Visakhapatnam where they were reunited with their children.
Hari Shankar’s father, Vasantha Rao, expressed happiness with the efficiency of the police in tracing their children.
“Hari’s father Vasantha Rao said that his son was quite naughty and that the whole trip might have been his idea. Vasantha Rao, however, denied reports that the children had been harassed by teachers in their school,” Srinivasa Rao told Expresso.
–Agencies–