A boy with autism managed to step out of his school gate in Salt Lake and was wandering on the streets when he was spotted by a police patrol team that helped him get back to his family on Wednesday.
The boy, who studies in a school in CK Block, did not come out of the school like every day when his parents went to pick him up after classes, an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.
The school gate had somehow been left open and the teenager stepped out unattended, the officer said.
A teacher said students are let out of the premises only when their parent or guardian comes to pick them up but the boy had somehow managed to leave as he was walking with one of his friends whose attendant had come to pick him up.
“The attendant of the other student spotted him but he thought the boys parents were waiting just outside the gate so he did not raise an alarm,” said the teacher who did not wish to be named.
The student had managed to walk till the Purta Bhavan island, at least 2.5km away from the school, when a police patrol team spotted him, a senior officer said.
“Realising that he was not accompanied by anyone, the team took him to the Bidhannagar North police station. A speech therapist was brought in. Some of our officers, on recognising the school uniform, got in touch with the authorities of the school,” said the officer.
The school authorities told the police team that the boy’s parents were waiting on the campus.
“The parents came to the police station and after proper verification, we handed the boy to them,” said the officer.