AGRA: A 12-year-old Delhi boy from Preet Vihar, who funded his addiction for an online mobile phone game, 'Free Fire', by stealing and selling off his mom’s jewellery, ran from home on Tuesday evening but was fortunately found past midnight at the Aligarh railway station.
The boy was spotted at Aligarh’s railway platform early Wednesday and his parents were informed after he "willingly" gave information about them. The child, a student of class VI in a reputed public school in the capital, had fled from his Preet Vihar residence and boarded the Kalindi Express train. Luckily for the distraught parents, a passenger thought something was fishy and informed the Railway police about him.
Later, police contacted his family and they rushed to Aligarh where there was a reunion. Talking to TOI, the boy’s father, who runs a family business in Preet Vihar, said that he had given the mobile phone to his son for attending his online classes during the lockdown. He said, “My son had downloaded the online battle game and got addicted to it. For updating the game, he needed money so he started stealing from home.”
According to Railway Police Force inspector Chaman Singh Tomar, the boy had stolen and sold his mom’s gold chain for Rs 20,000. 'Free Fire' is described as an “ultimate survival shooter game”, where in-app purchases have to be made by the gamer to keep his "arsenal” ready with latest weaponry.
The boy's father said his child admitted his crime and had run away from the house fearing that he would be caught. He boarded the train in Delhi but did not buy a ticket. When the train reached Aligarh, he stepped out on platform number 2 and started roaming around and was spotted there.
