Haryana girl re-united with family after 11 years.
Pooja was 4 when she lost her way from school and went missing in May 2007. While parents searched for her everywhere and lost all hope for her return, little Pooja was dropped at Himachal Pradesh's Balika Ashram, a shelter home for orphan, poor and underprivileged girls, which became her home. As fate had it, she got reunited with her parents after 11 years with the help of Haryana Crime Branch. The re-union was an emotional one, the one filled with disbelief, happiness and satisfaction.
Rajesh Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector from Panchkula told news agency ANI, "The only clues Pooja gave me were that she could either be from Ambala or Panchkula, her father works in a rugs factory and there's a huge drain near her house."
Mr Kumar said, "Based on her clues I checked all rug shops in Panchkula and Ambala, but since there were only a few, I thought that she could be from Panipat as there are many such factories there."
Through Panipat's crime branch bureau, I got her picture verified and then tracked her father in the city's Saini Colony.
Pooja, now 15, could not thank Mr Kumar enough. "He promised me he will find my family and he did! I am very thankful to him."
Mr Kumar said he had reunited about 250-300 children with their families. "It fills me up with great satisfaction to see the joy on their faces when they met their families."
Pooja's only wish now is to study and become independent and her father said he would ensure that she gets quality education.
"I want to thank Rajesh ji and Balika Ashram for taking care of my daughter and helping me reunite with her again," said Pooja father, who got emotional after reuniting with her daughter.
For Pooja's mother too, happiness knew no bounds, "My gudiya is back after 11 years, I am very happy and excited to take her home."