Kota: A 17-year-old engineering aspirant who went missing from his hostel in Kota since February 13 has been found in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala on Friday. He is being brought to Kota by a team of Rajasthan Police.
Piyush, a resident of Durgapuram Panninagar in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr came to Kota two years ago to prepare for IIT-JEE exam. His JEE Main result was declared on February 13, but he had managed to score only 13 percentile. The police had been searching for him in various areas of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for the last 10 days.
Kota City SP Amrita Duhan said that the boy was under stress and her team is bringing him back to Kota. Initially, Piyush was reported to be in Haridwar but when the police team reached there, cops learnt that he was in Dharamshala.
"We immediately contacted the local police and I myself spoke to the Superintendent of Police there. We reached Dharamshala on Friday evening and took the boy under our protection. He is being brought to Kota. Prima facie it seems that the boy was suffering from depression. We will talk to him after he arrives here," Duhan said.
According to police, Piyush was seen at Kota Junction in the afternoon of February 13. He had left behind his two bags and walked out of the platform. His mobile phone was also switched off.
Piyush's father Mahesh Kapasiya said he attended his coaching classes regularly and performed well in the tests in 2022. "But in 2023, he missed many tests at his coaching centre. He told us that his preparations were going well and he would score well in JEE Main," Kapasiya said.
In a similar incident, another 17-year-old student from West Bengal, Aryan Mitra, who was preparing for NEET at a coaching centre in Kota also went missing since February 21. He was staying at a hostel in the Landmark area. The last location of his mobile was in Agra after which, he became untraceable.
Kunhadi police station officer Arvind Kumar said a missing complaint has been lodged by the boy's father and search operations are underway.
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