Cops rescue 5 runaway kids who left ‘to see film stars’

The three children who ran away from their homes in New Delhi and were rescued from Virar by the police. (Photo: Surendra Negi)

Five minors, who had run away from home to roam Mumbai and see Bollywood film stars, were rescued by the Vasai police in a single day and three of them were reunited with their parents on Saturday.

Two others have been sent to the Children’s Remand Home, Bhiwandi.

In the first instance, the Vasai police found Vishnu Raju (13) and Sagar Shankar (12) moving around suspiciously at Vasai railhead.

When the police asked about their whereabouts, they were clueless and were sent to the Children’s Remand Home, said Palghar police PRO, PSI Ranjit Shirsat.

“The same day, we found three minors, Raju Singh (13), Om Joshi (2) and Krishna Paswan (15), alighting from the Ferozepur Janata Express and loitering aimlessly at Virar station. When we asked for their identities, they at first tried to act smart with us and said they had come to see their relatives in Mumbai, but from their body language, we could make out that they had run away from home,” said Mr Shirsat.

“The truth was revealed after women cops spoke to them in a gentle manner, and they opened up and said they ran away from New Delhi and boarded the Mumbai train to see film stars and be part of the glamour world of Bollywood,” Mr Shirsat added.

All the three children were starving and had not eaten any food. They had sustained themselves by drinking water from the water supply in the general compartment, said Mr Shirsat.

“We first fed them and then we called their parents, who were shocked to hear about them and on Saturday they were reunited with their children,” said the official.

The three children were warned not to repeat such an act and concentrate on their studies, and told they would end up at the Children’s Remand Home otherwise, said Mr Shirsat.