Class 6 boy flees home, calls parents to 'reach in 5 minutes', dad hears 'Rs 5 lakh ransom'

Scolded by family members, a Class 6 student left home for a few hours here, prompting his parents to approach the police fearing a kidnap and the "ransom" amount being Rs 5 lakh, officials said Tuesday.

The 11-year-old boy, who lives in Noida's Chhijarsi area, was peeved over his parents frequently scolding him. His father runs a grocery store and would often make him sit on the counter, a police official said.

"The boy would often take some money from the 'galla' (cash box) and he did the same Monday morning. He had taken Rs 100, after which his uncle had also scolded him," he added.

The boy later left home for school but instead, hitchhiked a ride from a stranger on a motorcycle to Bisrakh in Greater Noida, the police said.

After reaching there, he wandered around for some time but was soon famished and thought of calling home. He requested a labourer for making a call from his mobile phone.

"The boy called up his father and told him he had reached Bisrakh. He asked his father to come there 'in five minutes' and hung up," the police official said, adding that the mobile phone was found to be switched off subsequently.

He said soon, the Phase 3 police station was alerted by the boy's family, which claimed "their child had been kidnapped and a ransom of Rs five lakh demanded for his release".

The phone number was put on surveillance, but as it was switched off, the suspicion of kidnapping was raised further, the official said.

"Soon, a local police team reached Bisrakh and kept trying the phone number which was switched on after some time. They located the number and reached the labourer and also found the boy wandering nearby," the policeman said.

According to Akhilesh Tripathi, Station House Officer, Phase 3 police station, initially it appeared to be a case of kidnapping but later, it turned out that the child had left home on his own and made the call to his parents.

No official complaint was lodged in connection with the incident, he said, adding that the boy was brought back to his family members within hours.

Meanwhile, the father of the boy said it turned out to be "a case of miscommunication".