Bengaluru:
Two 12-year-olds who went missing in the city on Friday evening -- exactly when the sudden cloudburst inundated the city -- have been traced, bringing much relief to many who perceived it to be another case of Abhishek who was washed away in a Lingarajapuram drain in May 2009.
The boys are safe now and have been handed over to their parents. But the reason behind their sudden disappearance continues to remain a mystery.
After they were found in a posh hotel room with Rs38,000 cash, the story of the runaway boys turned out to be as intriguing as that of Abhishek, whose body is yet to be traced.
Std VI students of Delhi Public School, the two regularly attended tuition classes at their teacher's house. On Friday, the duo went for the classes but failed to return home.
One of the boys' parents lodged a complaint with the Kodigehalli police around 8.30pm and a massive search was launched. Both the boys were traced to a posh hotel in Hebbal on Saturday morning. Who took them there still remains a mystery, though several versions cropped up.
Home minister R Ashok called the incident an accident. He said he was told by the police that one of the boys had accidentally injured a tuition-mate. "So they got scared and went to Esteem Mall in an auto. From there, they walked to Hotel Royal Senate and checked in," the minister said.
But the police begged to differ.
Kodigehalli police said the duo went straight to the Esteem Mall near Hebbal flyover after their tuition classes. "There they went on a shopping spree -- they bought video games and chocolates, along with a few other things. Then they checked into Royal Senate hotel," inspector Chandrashekhar said.
He said the boys left home with Rs45,000 and foreign currency ($42) and pre-planned their escape "to enjoy themselves". He said the boys exchanged the foreign currencies for Indian rupees in a nationalised bank and that they were investigating from where they got them.
Chandrashekar said the boys booked the hotel room giving their fathers' mobile numbers and spent the whole night there. When DNA cross-checked the police version with the hotel manager Shivakumar, he said the boys were brought by the parents themselves.
"Today (Saturday), when they wanted to check out we informed the parents," he said in the presence of the police inspector. And that's how the boys were traced. But the inspector said the manager was not on duty when the boys checked in. "Some part-time front office girl had booked the room for the boys. She will know the truth," the police officer said. Deputy commissioner of police (North East) BR Ravikanthe Gowda found fault with the hotel as it failed to follow rules while allowing minors to check in by themselves.