Bhubaneswar: A 7-year-old boy who strayed out of an upscale apartment complex unnoticed and wandered on to the busy NH-16 stretch in Bhubaneswar’s Pahala area on Wednesday morning was rescued safely by alert police personnel, who were patrolling at that time, averting what could have been a major tragedy.The child was playing in the garden inside an upscale residential apartment complex when he crossed the gate without being stopped by security staff and reached the national highway. His parents realised he was missing shortly afterwards and approached the police. When they failed to locate him, they checked CCTV footage and found that the child had moved outside the campus.“Luckily, our patrolling team noticed a child crying near the highway. We brought him into our vehicle and tried to comfort him by offering biscuits and water,” said inspector-in-charge of Pahala police station, Aswini Kumar Jena.As the child was unable to provide his residential address, police began inquiring at several nearby residential complexes in an effort to trace his family. After visiting multiple housing societies in the area, cops finally identified the apartment where the boy lived and reunited him with his parents. The child was handed over safely to his family, bringing an end to what had been an anxious ordeal.Both parents and police officers blamed negligence on the part of the apartment’s security personnel. “The child should not have been able to leave the premises unnoticed. We have sensitised security guards to remain vigilant,” said IIC Jena.The boy’s father, who is the branch manager in a public sector bank in the city, said the timely intervention of the police prevented a potentially disastrous situation. “Anything could have happened to my child on the highway had the police not spotted him in time. We cannot thank Pahala police staff enough for rescuing him and bringing him back safely,” said the child’s father.