A 16-year-old schoolboy in Mangalore put a friend inside a large suitcase and tried to smuggle him into his apartment, apparently to beat their lockdown blues.

They were caught before any harm came to the boy cramped and probably suffocating inside — the watchman spotting some movement inside the suitcase as it was being wheeled in.

Police said the boys, about the same age, had resorted to the desperate measure because the lockdown had left them lonely, bored and restless.

The apartment complex on Arya Samaja Road where the incident occurred had barred all visitors since the lockdown began 18 days ago.

So, the 16-year-old boy took the suitcase outside the complex gates, where his friend had arrived on foot from a nearby house. He got the friend to slip inside the suitcase, zipped it up and began wheeling it back to the apartment.

The watchman, suspicious from the start, stopped the boy and alerted a few residents, who came and had the suitcase opened. By that time the first boy’s parents had rushed out too.

The apartment association informed the police, who took both boys and their parents to the local police station.

A police source said the boys were reminded about the Covid-19 protocol and let off with a warning. The police refused to name the boys since they are minors.

Psychiatrists have been cautioning parents that the long confinement at home might put their children under mental stress, provoking unusual behaviour.