Two runaway boys, who were found loitering on the platforms in Shivamogga Town Railway Station and Harihara Railway Station, were rescued by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and handed over to their respective families.

Around 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday, RPF personnel Y.J. Bhaskar noticed a minor boy loitering on Platform No. 1 on the CCTV surveillance at Shivamogga Town Railway Station. Acting promptly, the RPF staff secured the boy and brought him to the RPF post for inquiry.

“The child was identified as Karan, 12, son of Shivamurthy, resident of Kadur, Chikkamagaluru district. He disclosed that he had left home without informing his parents and travelled from Kadur to Shivamogga,” said a statement from the Mysuru Railways Division on Thursday.

The matter was immediately reported to the District Child Protection Unit, Shivamogga, and the child was handed over to the Child Helpline Coordinator for counselling and safe restoration to his family, the statement said.

In another case, RPF personnel Satyanarayan noticed a boy wandering suspiciously on Platform No. 1 of the Harihara Railway Station around 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday.

“Upon enquiry, the child revealed his identity as Aditya, 12, son of Ram Prashad Sharma, a resident of Bengaluru, and stated that he had run away from his school due to personal reasons,” the statement said.

RPF Harihara immediately contacted Child Helpline (1098), and after counselling by representatives of Don Bosco Charitable Society, Davangere, the child was handed over to the NGO for further care, counselling, and restoration to his family, the statement said.

A statement here said the two runaway children were rescued and safely handed over to child welfare authorities under the RPF’s flagship child rescue initiative called Nanhe Farishte.

Operation Amanat

The RPF also traced and restored lost property of railway passengers in two separate cases under its ‘Operation Amanat’.

After receiving a Rail Madad complaint on Wednesday regarding a backpack left behind in Train No. 19667, prompt action by RPF Mysuru led to the safe recovery of the bag containing three Dell laptops, two power banks, two laptop chargers, a mobile charger, a connector, a pen drive, a book, and identity documents, collectively valued at approximately ₹1.60 lakh. 

“After due verification, the recovered property was handed over to the authorised representative of the passenger under proper acknowledgement,” the statement said.

In another case, a passenger travelling by Train No. 16227 (KSR Bengaluru –Talguppa Express) on Tuesday inadvertently left behind his mobile phone valued at ₹10,000 in Coach S7.

On receiving the complaint, RPF Shivamogga coordinated with the railway staff and successfully traced the mobile phone. The recovered phone was subsequently handed over to the rightful owner, Pritham of Shivamogga, after verification. 

Through these efforts, the RPF Mysuru Division successfully restored lost property worth approximately ₹1.70 lakh to passengers, the statement said.