Kin of missing autistic boy announces Rs 2 lakh reward for info on him

Tarun Gupta

It has been 110 days since autistic teen Tarun Gupta went missing from near his Colaba home. With all efforts to trace him having failed, his father, Vinod Gupta, has announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for information on him.

After Member of Parliament and NCP leader Supriya Sule raised the case in Lok Sabha on December 3, 2019, the office of the Minister of Home Affairs directed the Director General of Maharashtra police to make the case a 'high priority' one and to make 'all possible efforts to trace the missing person'.

"If there was any kind of priority in finding Tarun - let alone high priority - he would have been found by now," said Vinod. "But the truth is that despite numerous promises and teams deployed by Mumbai police and RPF (Railway Protection Force), he has still not returned home. That is why I have decided not to depend on others and do things my way. No matter what happens, I will bring my son home within the next fortnight."

Tarun's father, Vinod, and his friends will paste the posters promising the reward at all stations and on all modes of transport.

Over the past four days, Vinod and 15 of his friends divided themselves into five teams, which will fan out all over the state to look for Tarun during the next fortnight. Around 20,000 missing posters promising the reward have also been printed.

"We will put these posters on every possible mode of transportation entering and exiting the city," he said. Vinod was to travel with one team to Nashik on Wednesday night and return on Thursday. During the journey, the team planned to paste missing person posters at all railway stations. "After Nashik, we will go to Pune and then to Gujarat. I believe that I will find my son through these stickers and posters," he said.

"We did not announce a reward earlier because we did not want to risk harming Tarun. But now I have realised that the only way to bring him back is the prize money. We need to take help from the public. Maybe they will share pictures or reports of Tarun's sightings. My friends are taking leave from work for the next fortnight to help search for him."
Tarun, 17, went missing from near his Colaba home on October 1. He was last seen at Sawantwadi station railway station on October 3, 2019.

110
No. of days for which Tarun has been missing

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