Two class 9 students from a Surat school left for Mumbai to fulfill their dream – join a cricket academy there and become professional players – leaving their parents worried.
Days later, the Surat police found them at the home of the grandparents of one of the boys in Rajasthan.
According to police, the 15–year–old students left their house in the afternoon of November 7 and did not return until evening. While one’s family is from Rajasthan, the other’s is from Uttar Pradesh. After their searches turned futile, the families lodged a missing person report with the police on November 8.
Police found that one of the boys had taken Rs 20,000 from his home to pay the entry fees of a cricket coaching centre in Mumbai.
The Rajasthani boy had left a letter written in Hindi at his home. The letter states, “Mummy-Pappa, mein jaa raha hoon apna sapna pura karne. Aap chinta na karein, mein vaapas aa jaunga kuch saalon mein. Mujeh dhundhne ki koshish na karein. Aap jitna dhundhoge mujeh utni dikkatein hogi, aur untna hi late mein ghar vapas aaunga. Love you… issey mera bachpana na samjeh.” (“Mummy and Papa, I’m going out to fulfil my dream. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few years. Don’t try to find me. The more you search, the more trouble you will face, and I will return home much later. Love you… Don’t mistake this as my childish act.”
A team of Ichhapore police reached the school and talked to their classmates and found that both of them wanted to become cricketers.
The police checked the CCTV footage from near their homes and found that they had hired an autorickshaw. The driver of the autorickshaw told police that he dropped them at the Surat railway station.
Sub-inspector K P Jadeja said, “The autorickshaw driver told us that they were talking about a cricket training academy in Mumbai. We checked the CCTV cameras at Surat Railway station and found they went to Mumbai by train. Our team reached Boriwali station in Mumbai, checked the CCTV footage, and found that they boarded a train from Mumbai to Jaipur the next day.”
“We called the Rajasthani boy’s parents and took details of their relatives. Later, our team reached the Bhilwara area in Rajasthan and found both the teenagers in the house of one of the boy’s grandparents,” he said.
Police brought them back to Surat and handed them over to their parents after completing official formalities on Friday.
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Talking to The Indian Express, the father of one of the boys, said, “Both are close friends and they wanted a career in cricket. The duo had earlier contacted a cricket coaching academy a few days ago by phone, and they were told to wait for a few more days. Without receiving an invitation call from the academy, the duo left home on November 7 and reached Mumbai. They went straight to a cricket coaching centre in Borivali the next day. The coaching centre staff asked them to bring their parents for admission.”
“They reached Borivali railway station and fearing backlash from family members if they return home, they went to a relative’s homes at Bhilwara in Rajasthan,” he said.
