Boy reunited with parents after 4 years

Lost and found

Prajwal was handed over to his original parents Ravi Jadhav and Bharati Jadhav by his foster father Gangappa Fakkirappa Medar of Surashettykoppa in Kalghatagi taluk, at the town police station here.

Gangappa, who has no children of his own, looked after the boy like his own child, and was unable to control his emotions. With tears rolling down his cheeks, and speechless in anguish he handed over the boy to his parents. The Jadhav couple too was emotional overwrought seeing their son after four years.

Prajwal went missing when he was playing in the vicinity of Vithoba temple four years ago. His parents searched for the boy everywhere in the twin cities. They advertised in the newspapers, and even filed a police complaint against a woman whom they suspected of kidnapping Prajwal.

The police search and investigation did not yield any results. The parents stopped searching the boy, but had a hope that one day their son would return back.

Prajwal, two years old then, had wandered off while playing and landed in the market where he was found crying by the mother-in-law of Gangappa. The vendors in the market were trying to console the boy.

Somebody suggested to Gangappa’s mother-in-law to take the boy along with her and said she could return the boy to his relatives when they came searching for him. She took the boy and handed over to Gangappa, who had already adopted his brother’s son.

Prajwal was renamed as Manjunath and admitted to school. Gangappa’s family cared for
him like their own child.

Of late, the Hubli-Dharwad Police Commissionerate formed a special team to solve long-pending cases of missing children. During its general enquiries, the team received information about a boy found in Hubli market being brought by foster parents at Surashettykoppa. After cross-checking the information, the team concluded that the boy was Prajwal. The police team convinced the foster parents to hand over the boy to his biological parents. Called to the police station, the Jadhavs identified their son.

It was really a moving occasion to see the foster parents, who have developed emotional attachment with Prajwal handing him over him to his biological parents.

There was not a dry eye in the police station. Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar has announced that the police team would be honoured for successfully tracing the missing boy and restoring him to his parents.

Speaking to mediapersons, he said the team was formed under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner of Police Shrinath Joshi just four days ago. ASI A A Pathan, head constable M I Pathan, Haveri and S Alur were in the team.

“As per the court order, there are some legal formalities to be completed. After that, the boy will be handed over to his original parents,” he said. DCP P R Batakurki, ACP Sanjeev Patil and others were present.