Traffic cop goes beyond the call of duty, reunites missing tot with family

Going beyond the call of duty, a traffic policeman helped reunite an 18-month-old boy with his family.

Chiru, the toddler, got lost when the workers of a political party visited his house in South Bengaluru’s Lakshmi Layout seeking votes on the morning of May 1.

As soon as the workers left, the toddler followed them without the knowledge of his grandmother who was babysitting him.

The boy is the only child of his parents who work in a garment factory.

The boy kept following the political workers until they went their way around noon. He then loitered on a service road near a traffic signal in Garvebhavipalaya on Hosur Road under the hot sun. Lokesh R (37), a head constable at the Madiwala traffic police station, noticed the boy who looked lost and confused. He was sobbing and calling his grandmother out.

Lokesh, posted at the traffic signal, followed the toddler for about half a kilometre. “I thought the child knew where his house was and I wanted to make sure he reached safely,” he told DH.

When Lokesh was convinced the boy was lost, he went up to him, got him juice and asked him where he lived and who were his parents. Lokesh then took the boy on his motorbike and roamed the area, asking him for clues about his house and family.

When the search for the boy’s house wasn’t getting anywhere, the policeman came back to the traffic signal,
sat with the boy, took his picture and circulated it on WhatsApp.

Lokesh also informed the law and order police to check complaints of missing children and gave them Chiru’s picture. His efforts bore fruit just two hours later when the boy’s grandmother came to the traffic signal after learning that he was with the policeman.