Railway Protection Force rescues 3-year-old boy abandoned at Sanatorium railway station

CHENNAI: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel rescued a three-year-old boy, who was abandoned in the Tambaram Sanatorium railway station, and handed him to the government children’s home on Saturday.

Around 4.30 am on Saturday, an RPF official on patrol spotted a little boy standing on the platform and crying inconsolably. The policeman took the boy and asked the passengers on the platform if any of them was accompanying him. But no guardian or parent came forward. The boy was then taken to the RPF station at St Thomas Mount and handed over to the officials there.

While reviewing CCTV footage at the station, the police found that an EMU train from Chennai Beach to Tambaram had stopped at Sanatorium for a brief halt at around 4.20 am. The visual shows a young man standing near the door and putting the child on the platform. When the boy tries to walk back, he shoos him away, and continued the journey towards Tambaram on the same train.

The police found the boy’s appearance was neat and had signs that he hailed from a well-off family. The officials are now probing whether the case involves kidnapping or whether family disputes may have led to the abandonment.

The boy was sent to the government children’s home in Alandur. The police are trying to identify the person who abandoned the boy. The police are scanning the CCTV cameras in all the stations between Chennai Beach and Tambaram.