A 12-year-old boy from Dinhata subdivision of Cooch Behar faked an
abduction on Thursday evening so that his parents don’t pressurise him for
studies.

Dhiman Mitra, the subdivisional police officer (SDPO) of Dinhata, said on Friday that the boy had suddenly walked into a house at Burirpat on Thursday.

“When those staying in the house asked about his whereabouts, he said he was abducted by some people with two-three more children while he was on his way to private tuition. He has somehow escaped from the car,” said Mitra.

This made the members of that house call up the police at around 8.30pm. A police team went there and rescued the boy. He was also taken to the local hospital for a health check-up.

“As we spoke to him, he told us the route along which the car in which he claimed he was abducted had moved. We checked CCTV footage of the route but couldn’t find anything significant. In fact, in one location, we saw the boy travelling alone in an e-rickshaw,” the subdivisional police officer added.

Such incongruities prompted the police officers to interrogate him again.
This time, the boy divulged that he had fabricated the story because he was
unprepared for his school examinations.

“He did it so that his parents wouldn’t pressure him to study. It is indeed surprising that he did it all in a planned manner. We have handed him to his parents and asked them to get him counselled,” the police officer said.

Dyutiman Bhattacharya, the superintendent of police of Cooch Behar, said they
had come across another similar case a few weeks back.

A Madhyamik examinee, also a minor boy, from Khagrabari Pundibari of the district, had gone missing.

“Initially, we couldn’t trace his mobile phone. Eventually, we found him in Siliguri. He was working in a shop to earn a livelihood. Such a trend among minor boys is indeed very concerning,” said Bhattacharya.