Four-Year-Old Missing in B’luru, May Have Slipped Into a Drain

The boy is feared to have been washed down a stormwater drain near his residence in Bengaluru.

For the last three days, the family of four-year-old Mohammed Zain have been engaged in a frantic search for him. Zain went missing on Friday night, 30 August. With no signs of the boy, his parents have also filed a missing person’s complaint.

The boy is feared to have been washed down a stormwater drain near his residence in Padarayanapura ward of Bengaluru. On Sunday, 1 September, the Bengaluru police and fire department officials were pressed into service to look for him.

The police realised that the boy might have slipped into the drainage system when they went through the footage from a CCTV camera in the neighbourhood.

According to reports, another child in Bengaluru's JJR Nagar, part of the Chamarajapet area, saw the child slipping into a stormwater drain. She, however, told authorities only later that the boy may have slipped.

“Zain had gone to the side of the stormwater drain with a girl of his age. In the footage, we only saw the girl returning. We have been looking for him since then. However, it was only two days after the incident that the girl told us that he fell into the stormwater drain. We then went to the stormwater drain to find him, but in vain,” Shabuddin, the boy’s uncle, told News9.

After the preliminary investigation, Lingaraj, Inspector at the JJR Nagar police station said, “The boy fell into the stormwater drain when he tried to peep inside it. He has not been found and we fear he has been washed away in the drain. We have registered a complaint at our station.”

Imran Pasha, councillor of Padarayanapura ward, who also joined to supervise the rescue operations, could not be reached for comment.

(This is a developing story. This story has been published in an arrangement with The News Minute)