Reprimanded students walk into forest; saved after 15 hours

Preliminary inquiry revealed that three Class 8 students of Kil Kundah Middle School were caught copying during the half yearly exam on Thursday. “Their teacher warned and told them that they would inform their parents. Upset over the turn of events, the boys wrote a letter to the teacher, left it in a prominent place in the school, jumped over the school’s compound and went into the forest,” the Superintendent of Police (SP) of The Nilgiris, Murali Rambha said. He told DT Next that the incident took place around 4 p.m. 

Four other students including three girls from class 6 to 8 who saw the letter handed it over to the teacher and rushed to the forest in search of the trio. But both the groups did not return. Efforts by teachers, parents and villagers in the nearby Kurumba hamlets to find them turned futile. They informed the police personnel who are regularly in touch with them to check for Maoist movement. Manjoor police registered cases and a team of 25 personnel including the Naxal Special Division (NSD) were roped in for the search operation. 

“We did not want to give any chance and alerted the police in the Palakkad, Coimbatore and Erode districts,” the SP said. Murali Rambha said that police personnel in the Geddai, Maanar and Burliar check posts were alerted and the drivers and conductors of buses passing by that route were also inquired. 

“On learning that they did not hit the road and that they were still in the forest the search was intensified and was conducted throughout the night,” he added. Around 7 am on Friday a forest watcher spotted the group of four who went in search of the boys. They stayed below a culvert to stay safe from the wild animals that roam in that forest and were spotted about 5 kms away from their school. 

“Sadly they did not see the three boys and we spotted them about an hour later, about 2 kms away,” the SP said. The children were taken to the police station, counselled and sent home with their parents.