MUMBAI: A 13-year-old from Andheri had left home on the pretext of buying stationery, and was located by police on Wednesday evening, along with some expensive gadgets that he allegedly bought with the money he took while running away from home.

According to the police, the boy had left home around 1.30pm on Tuesday. When he didn’t return after a few hours, the family first started looking for him on their own and then approached the Meghwadi police and reported him missing. As per the norms, the missing person being a minor a kidnapping case was registered against an unknown accused under section 363 of the Indian Penal Code.

“After they had registered the complaint, the family discovered cash worth ₹4.5 lakh was missing from their home. We got scared at first that some adult might have manipulated the child into stealing from his parents,” said an official from Meghwadi police.

Based on this assumption, the police looked at all the major railway stations. They also searched many of the city’s tourist attractions like Marine Drive and Gateway of India. A section of the railway police force was also pressed into action.

Meanwhile, one team was continuously monitoring the CCTV system across nearby railway stations. “One of the teams spotted the missing boy on Wednesday evening around 8pm at Jogeshwari railway station. He was nabbed from there and brought to the police station later that same evening,” said that officer.

Police found ₹2.5 lakh in cash, a smartphone worth around ₹1 lakh, a smartwatch, and a power bank in his bag. “The boy was moving all around the city during the day. He spent some money on food and a taxi to go to a mall where he bought all the gadgets,” said the official. At night, he added, the child slept in the waiting room of a railway station.

Some primary enquiries revealed that the child in question was always enamoured by expensive things, especially electronic gadgets. “He used to like to show them off in school and to his friends. The parents may have refused to get him the specific gadgets that he wished to buy which prompted this action from the teenager,” said the police.

A team under the guidance of deputy commissioner of police for zone 10 Datta Nalawade, assistant commissioner of police for Meghwadi division Vinayak Mer, supervised by senior inspector Vijay Salunkhe and inspector Prashant Bharte worked round the clock for two days to track the missing child. “The child has been handed over to the parents. He has also been referred to the child welfare committee for an evaluation of his family life and mental health,” said an official.