Family leaves 8-year-old behind at Himachal dhaba, drives 80 km away before police tracks them down

An eight-year-old boy from Lucknow was reunited with his parents after they accidentally left him behind at a roadside dhaba in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district during a pilgrimage on October 6, as reported by TOI. The family, travelling as part of a 21-member group, had driven around 80 km from the eatery before realising the child was missing. Dhaba staff and customers alerted the police after finding the boy crying. The police officers scanned hundreds of cars before they could locate the family.

Family leaves boy behind during breakfast stop

The family was travelling through Himachal Pradesh on a pilgrimage when the group stopped for tea and breakfast at a dhaba in Amb, around 20 km from the Chintpurni Mata temple.

After the halt on October 6, the pilgrims boarded their Tempo Traveller and resumed their journey. However, the eight-year-old was inadvertently left behind as the vehicle departed.


The child watched the vehicle leave and began crying, drawing the attention of the dhaba staff and other customers. They informed the police, who took the boy into their care and began efforts to locate his family.

Also Read: JD Vance calls Indian workers ‘indentured servants’: What the term means and its history

Police use CCTV footage to trace vehicle

Police examined CCTV footage from Amb Chowk to identify the Tempo Traveller among the vehicles that had passed through the area. After tracing the vehicle, officers contacted its owner and subsequently reached the driver.

The driver informed the family that they had left the child behind at the dhaba. By then, the group had travelled approximately 80 km from the spot.

Also Read: From 30 to 3 sec: Techie claims he became a villain after bruising a senior's ego when he fixed a legacy system issue on his own

Family returns to collect child

After learning what had happened, the pilgrims drove back to the dhaba to collect the boy. Police completed the identification formalities before handing him over to his parents.

The child was reunited with his family after the police traced the vehicle and alerted the group to the mistake.