A 15-year-old minor, Nayan Malik, who had come visiting distant relatives in Malvani, has been missing since January 3.
A 15-year-old minor, Nayan Malik, who had come visiting distant relatives in Malvani, has been missing since January 3.
On January 17, he was spotted by actor Tanuj Mahashabde, who plays Krishnan Iyyer in the popular television series, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. After Mahashabde realised that the boy is mentally unstable, he circulated his picture on WhatsApp to urge his circle of friends to help the boy find his family. With help from one of his friends, Harsh Pancholi, Mr Mahashabde finally took the boy to the nearest MHB police station which handed him over to Malvani police station. Late on Sunday night, relatives of the boy were called and he was handed over to them.
They informed the police that he has been mentally unstable since childhood. His mother is coming from West Bengal on Tuesday to fetch her son.
It is learnt that the boy had come to Mumbai to witness New Year celebrations but went missing on January 3. On January 17, when Mr Mahashabde was at an ice cream parlour in Shanti Nagar, which comes under the jurisdiction of MHB police, he chanced upon the boy, offering him ice cream and striking up a conversation with him.
Mr Mahashabde told The Asian Age, “His clothes were torn and he appeared very dirty. He was hungry for several days. When I saw him, I realised something was wrong so I tried to help him but the biggest problem I faced is the boy, being a Bengali, spoke in his mother tongue only which I could not understand. I only managed to figure out his name and decided to circulate his picture on WhatsApp.” He further added, “My friend, Mr Pancholi told me he had received a WhatsApp forward saying the boy had been missing from Malad since January 3 so we took him to the police station.”
