Dwarkesh Thakkar, 19-year-old son of a millionaire oil trader in Padra, who had run away from home, was found to have been washing utensils and cleaning leftovers in Shimla for about a month.
Thakkar disliked studies. He was driven to prove his potential, which prompted him to leave home and reach Shimla.
Two Vadodara policemen, who happened to be on holiday at the hill station, got an alert from a hotel manager which led them to the boy.
Thakkar, an engineering student, had left home on 14 October telling his parents that he was going to college. However, he went to the Vadodara Railway Station from where he boarded a train to Delhi and disappeared.
The police attempted to trace him across Gujarat and Mumbai but failed to do so.
“The boy had left his mobile phone at home. All we had to hunt for him were CCTV camera footage of Vadodara Railway Station and an auto-rickshaw driver's statement who had dropped him at Akshar Chowk in Vadodara city,” said a police official, according to The Times of India.
The case took a new turn when on Monday, 4 November, the boy approached an upscale hotel in Shimla for work.
Manager’s Alert Helps Cops
After getting his ID card, the manager of the hotel had called the Padra police station. The manager also sent Thakkar's identity card's photo to the policemen.
Confirming that it was Thakkar, Inspector SA Karmar of Padra police station called police constables Sanjaysinh Gohil and Bhupendrasinh Mahida, who were in Shimla on holiday.
By the time Gohil and Mahida reached the hotel, Thakkar had left from there.
Gohil said, “The hotel manager told us that the boy confided that he had been working at highway eateries and kiosks and survived on whatever food he got. So we contacted all such small eateries and local taxi drivers and shared the boy's photos along with our numbers,” reported The Times of India.
Shortly after, a taxi driver called up Gohil and informed him that Thakkar was seen sleeping on the roadside in the hill station.
The two policemen rushed to the spot and found him, following which they informed his parents who immediately flew to Shimla.
Thakkar's uncle, Ketan Thakkar, grateful that he was found, stated how big a relief it is for the entire family.
(With inputs from The Times of India)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)