A seven-year-old boy who left a gated apartment complex unnoticed reached the busy NH-16 near Pahala in Odisha on Wednesday morning before patrolling police personnel found and rescued him, according to a report by the Times of India. The incident highlighted a serious lapse in security at the residential complex and ended after police reunited the child with his parents.
The boy had been playing in the garden of an upscale apartment complex when he walked out through the main gate. Security staff did not stop him, and he subsequently made his way to the national highway, where he was found crying by a team from Pahala police station.
The child’s parents realised that he was missing shortly afterwards and approached the police. They also checked CCTV footage from the apartment complex, which showed that the boy had left the premises. The footage helped establish that he had moved out of the residential compound, but the family was initially unable to locate him.
The patrolling police personnel took the child into their vehicle and attempted to calm him with biscuits and water. As he could not provide his home address, the officers began making inquiries at residential complexes in the surrounding area to identify his family.
After visiting several housing societies, the police traced the apartment complex where the boy lived. The child was then safely handed over to his parents, bringing the search to an end. The report said that the timely intervention prevented the child from remaining exposed to traffic on the highway.
Awini Kumar Jena, inspector-in-charge of Pahala police station, told the Times of India that the child should not have been able to leave the premises without being noticed. “The child should not have been able to leave the premises unnoticed. We have sensitised the security guards to remain vigilant,” Jena said.
The incident places attention on the role of private security at large residential complexes, particularly where apartment gates connect directly to busy roads or highways. In this case, the child was able to move from the internal garden area to the public road without the security staff intervening, while the nearby NH-16 created an immediate safety risk.
The boy’s father, Srikant Maharana, a bank officer, credited the police with preventing a potentially disastrous outcome. “Anything could have happened to my child on the highway had the police not spotted him in time. We cannot thank the Pahala police staff enough for rescuing him and bringing him back safely,” he said.
Pahala police said they had sensitised the apartment complex’s security guards to remain vigilant. The child was reunited with his parents after the police identified his residence through inquiries at nearby housing societies.
