A 14-year-old boy ran away from his home in Gujarat’s Surat, leaving behind a note for his family that said he was not able to understand anything taught during the online classes of his school, police said on Thursday.

The Class VIII boy left his home on Monday afternoon and reached his uncle’s place in Bhayandar near Mumbai, around 270km from his residence in Surat, they said.

“During the probe, the police came to know that the boy and his parents lived in Bhayandar till around four years back and the teenager misses his friends there and does not feel comfortable in Surat,” inspector of Rander police station J.P. Jadeja said.

The boy left his home in Surat when his parents were away. After failing to find him, his father lodged a missing person’s complaint at Rander police station, he said.

Jadeja said that before leaving, the teen left a hand-written note that read: “Mummy and Papa, I troubled you a lot in the past. But now, I am going far away. I cannot understand anything which is taught through online classes. Sorry for all the trouble.”

Except for Classes X and XII, schools in Gujarat have been imparting education through the online mode because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“When we launched a search for the boy, his uncle, who still lives at Bhayandar, called the minor’s father on Wednesday to inform him that the boy had reached his place and was safe at home. After being informed about it, his parents have left Surat to meet him,” Jadeja said.

The police, however, did not specify how the boy reached Bhayandar.

The boy’s father is a small-time supplier of tobacco and food items in Surat.