AHMEDABAD: Surat City was left stunned after a 23-year-old teacher abducted her 11-year-old student and fled, but it was a hidden second mobile number that eventually led police to their dramatic capture 390 kilometres away, four days later.
The incident unfolded on the afternoon of April 25 when the teacher, a trusted educator, vanished with the young boy in broad daylight, igniting panic and a citywide manhunt.
Surat DCP Bhagirath Gadhvi told the media, “After intensive investigation, the police arrested the female teacher and the student from Raigad on Tuesday. The investigation revealed that both were facing scolding from their families and ran away due to boredom. The police are continuing the investigation.”
Initially, investigators faced a dead end. The teacher had cunningly switched off her primary mobile phone shortly after fleeing with the boy from a railway station, erasing all digital trails.
CCTV scans of the railway station and local bus stands proved futile, prompting police to suspect the duo had boarded a private bus. But just as the trail began to go cold, officers traced a second, previously unknown mobile number, still active, which turned the case around.
With this critical lead, Pune Police deployed a four-member team in a race against time. Around 4:00 a.m., officers intercepted a bus near Shamlaji on the Rajasthan border and pulled the teacher and student off before they could vanish again.
The rescue marked the end of a tense four-day pursuit during which the pair had travelled across 390 kilometres from Surat by bus, narrowly staying ahead of the law.
Initial interrogation revealed that the teacher and the boy had known each other for three years, with both families frequently in contact. The boy, a fifth-grade student and son of a grocery merchant in Surat’s Pune area, had been attending her tuition classes, and for the past year, he had become her only private student, a closeness that gradually turned into mutual affection.
Pressure from the teacher’s family to arrange her marriage, along with growing frustration over the boy’s academic struggles at home, reportedly set the stage for the desperate plan. The teacher is believed to have meticulously planned their escape and convinced the boy to flee with her.
CCTV footage from their residential society captured the teacher leaving with the boy, a bag slung over her shoulder, suggesting premeditation. Police launched an intensive search operation, forming four dedicated teams.
Further scrutiny of CCTV footage from April 25 and earlier revealed the teacher had arrived at Parvat Patiya in a rickshaw after taking the boy, where she purchased a trolley bag, presumably to carry more belongings.
Investigators also discovered that the school bag she carried had been bought two days earlier, further confirming that the abduction was not impulsive.
This disturbing case has since shocked the residents of Surat and sparked heated discussions across the city.