Police in Bhubaneswar rescued a seven-year-old boy found crying near the busy NH-16 in Pahala on Wednesday morning and reunited him with his parents after tracing his apartment complex through inquiries across nearby housing societies.
The child had reportedly wandered out of an upscale residential apartment complex after leaving its garden. According to the report, he crossed the campus gate without being stopped by security personnel and reached the national highway. His parents noticed that he was missing shortly afterwards and approached the police when they could not find him.
The family checked the apartment complex’s CCTV footage and found that the child had moved outside the premises. At the time, a patrolling team from Pahala police station noticed him near the highway and brought him into their vehicle. The officers offered him biscuits and water while trying to establish where he lived.
The child was unable to provide his residential address. Police then began making inquiries at several residential complexes in the area. After visiting multiple housing societies, they identified the apartment where the boy lived and contacted his family. The child was subsequently handed over safely to his parents.
Aswini Kumar Jena, inspector-in-charge of Pahala police station, said the patrolling team had found the child crying near the highway. He also said the boy should not have been able to leave the residential premises unnoticed. Police officials sensitised the apartment’s security guards to remain vigilant, according to the report.
The incident has drawn attention to the safety responsibilities of private residential complexes located close to high-speed roads. Security gates, guard vigilance and surveillance systems are among the first safeguards intended to prevent children and other vulnerable residents from leaving a campus without family members noticing. In this case, the child’s movement outside the complex was detected only after his parents reviewed CCTV footage.
The proximity of the apartment complex to NH-16 added an immediate traffic-safety risk. The highway is a busy transport corridor, and the child’s inability to provide his address made it difficult for the police to locate his family quickly. The rescue depended on the patrolling team’s intervention and the subsequent door-to-door inquiries in nearby housing societies.
The child’s father, a branch manager with a public sector bank in Bhubaneswar, said the police response had prevented a potentially serious situation. He thanked the Pahala police staff for spotting the boy, rescuing him and bringing him back to his family.
Police have not reported any injury to the child. The immediate next step identified in the report is continued vigilance by security guards at the apartment complex after the police sensitisation exercise.
