VIJAYAWADA: The four children, who went missing from their school on Monday evening, were traced and reunited with their parents on Tuesday. The four students, identified as Manukonda Santosh, Eede Venkatesh Goud, K Venkatesh alias Cherry and K Prabhudeva, were less than 10 years old.
While three children were in the fifth grade at MTMC Upper Primary School in New Bank Colony of Mangalagiri town, one was studying in a private school in the same locality.
On Monday morning, the four kids came to school as usual and reportedly left after a few minutes without taking permission from school authorities concerned.
Their class teacher complained to the headmaster, who instructed the kids to bring their parents on Tuesday. Fearing that their parents would punish them for leaving school without intimation, they left to their relatives’ house in Chirala. They left their school bags in the school before leaving.
The entire incident came to light when the school staff informed the students’ parents that their bags were still in the school and asked to collect them. Worried parents rushed to the school only to find that the children were missing. Immediately, a missing complaint was lodged with the Mangalagiri police, who initiated a manhunt.
The kids sold a mobile phone and with that money, they went to their relatives’ home in Chirala. After the news reports aired on various TV channels, a man informed the police about the kids, who rescued them. “Several teams were formed to trace the missing kids immediately after receiving a complaint. The kids were brought safely and reunited with parents after counselling,” Mangalagiri sub-inspector Narayana said.