Jaipur, Sep 25 Two nine-year-old girls in the thralls of ‘BTS fever’ left from their school here to meet iconic ‘K-pop’ producer Bang Si-hyuk aka ‘Hitman’ Bang, only to have their journey cut short at a local railway station, police said on Friday.
According to police, the two friends — students of Class 5 — were obsessed with the South Korean boy band and would gorge on their videos on YouTube, prompting them to leave home in an effort to meet the producer of their chart-breaking hits.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Jaipur West) Prashant Kiran said a search was launched after the girls did not return home from school on September 23.
Police obtained their photographs and identification details from their families and circulated them among police stations, railway police, bus stands and the airport.
Subsequently, police learnt that the girls were spotted at Gandhinagar railway station here, where Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel had taken them in custody.
A police team reached the station around 7.30 pm the same evening and took the girls into its care, the DCP said.
During counselling, the girls told police that they used to watch BTS videos on the mobile phones of their mothers and other family members.
“They told us that after watching the videos, they decided to leave to meet their producer Bang Si-hyuk,” Kiran said.
The girls were produced before the Child Welfare Committee and subsequently handed over to their families on its directions.
Kiran said children are increasingly using the internet and social media at a young age without fully understanding the risks associated with the virtual world.
“Parents and teachers have an important role in guiding children about safe use of the internet and social media,” he said.
(PTI News)
