After 11 days of intensive search work, the 17-year-old JEE candidate who vanished from his hostel in Kota, Rajasthan, on February 13 has been found in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
Piyush, who is from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, had spent the previous two years studying for the IIT-JEE exams in a hostel in Kota’s Indra Vihar. Family members and authorities became concerned when he vanished, which prompted them to act quickly to find the missing student.
The family learned that Piyush had recently taken the JEE-Mains exam in Kota, where he had scored 13 percentile. The teenager had spent the previous two years assiduously preparing for the IIT-JEE, according to the teenager’s family.
Piyush was last seen carrying a bag in CCTV footage from the Kota railway station, which was taken just before he vanished.
Senior police officer Amrita Duhan said that teams searched multiple locations, following leads and obtaining information regarding the student’s whereabouts. The police made a breakthrough when they obtained information indicating Piyush was in Dehradun. Teams were eventually sent to Haridwar and Dehradun.
Piyush was finally apprehended in Dharamshala after the police pursued him there. Kota Police worked in tandem with local law enforcement. The police team was accompanied by the missing student’s family.
As per the police report, Piyush’s mental state is unstable at the moment and he is not willing to divulge any information. He will receive counseling when the police return him to Kota, and further interrogation will clarify the events that brought him from Kota to Dharamshala.
Piyush’s father, Maheshchand Kapasia, had stated that he spoke to his mother early on February 13 and that was the last time he had seen his son.
Piyush then switched off his phone and stopped returning his family’s calls. His family filed a missing person’s report, fearing for his safety.
When the family realized Piyush had left for a test and had not returned to his hostel room, their fears increased. Next, his family made their way to Kota, where they filed a missing person report at the Jawahar Nagar police station.
