Missing Nepalese boy found in J'khand handed over to Embassy

A 10-year-old boy from Nepal was on Monday handed over to a representative of the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi, nearly ten months after he was found in Jharkhand's Ramgarh, a senior official said here.

The boy, who was found by the police in Ramgarh on April 20 last year and put up in a children's home here, was handed over to the Nepalese authorities after proper verification, district Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Singh told reporters here.

"Ramu Pun Magar, son of Mitralal Pun and Shova K C, who hail from Dang district of Nepal, was handed over to the representative of the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi, Bhumi Raj Bhattarai," Singh said.

The child was given a warm send-off with gifts as he is set to reunite with his parents in Nepal, he said.

The boy will leave for his country from New Delhi, Singh said.

During the investigation, it was found that the boy was missing from his residence in Nepal two years before he was found in Ramgarh, the deputy commissioner said.

He said the Jharkhand government had then approached the Embassy of Nepal and sought identification of the boy for repatriation to his country.

The boy recognised his parents through photographs and was repatriated after documents submitted by the Nepalese authorities identified his family, Singh said.

Bhattarai, the representative of the Embassy of Nepal, said, "It could be a case of cross-border human trafficking as the boy had travelled a long distance from Bihar to Ranchi before reaching Ramgarh and it was found that someone had paid him the bus fare.