JOIN USA child, who went missing from north Delhi’s Lahori Gate when he was three years old, was traced to Punjab and reunited with his family after six years by the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch.
A reward of Rs 50,000 had been declared for any information leading to his recovery.
The investigation into the case was transferred to the Crime Branch by the Delhi High Court.
The child, a resident of slums near DRP Line, Lahori Gate, went missing on May 21, 2012.
Teams under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Joy Tirkey fanned out in all directions and checked almost every railway station on the train routes of Gorakhdham Express, Toofan Mail, Punjab Mail, Shan-e-Punjab, Hawra Delhi-Kalka Mail and Jammu Mail trains.
On June 20, a police personnel received information that the missing boy could be living with a family in Hussainpur, Punjab.
His father accompanied the police team and the boy was found living with a family which had adopted him two years ago, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar.
The father recognised him because of a scar mark on the forehead and his facial features.
The three-year-old boy and his family lived in the slum cluster near Pul Mithai, Pili Kothi, near railway line where a lot of trains keep moving.
The boy had been playing with other children when he went missing. It was suspected that the boy may have climbed on a train and travelled somewhere.
About two years ago, Sanjay, a resident of Munger, Bihar, along with his wife and two children was travelling on a local train in Lakhi Sarai, Bihar.
The family spotted the child, then seven years old, travelling alone in the train at Kiul Railway Station, said the officer.
The family offered him food and asked him about his parents. The child was unable to tell them anything about himself. The family tried to find the parents on the train but in vain. They decided to keep the child, he added.
After spending a month in Bihar, the family returned to Hussainpur in Kapurthala, Punjab where Sanjay worked in a factory. The family tried to locate the boy’s family. They told everyone they met to help them search for his parents.
Meanwhile, the Crime Branch had been pasting 'Hue and Cry Notices' all over Delhi and the neighbouring states.
Sanjay’s neighbour in Kapurthala, Minta Devi (55), was visiting Delhi and saw the notice with the boy’s picture at New Delhi Railway Station.
She took a picture of the poster on her mobile phone and showed it to Sanjay, asking him to get in touch with the Delhi Police. He called up the Crime Branch and this led to the child being traced.
The child does not remember anything for the four-year period between 2012 and 2016 before he was found by Sanjay in the local train.
The child would be produced before the Child Welfare Committee before formally being handed over to his parents.