Mithun (14) cried copiously when he was separated from his family seven years ago. He is shedding tears of joy at the prospect of reuniting with them on Thursday.

The boy has been living in the city's Apna Ghar, a home run by the social welfare department for rescued children and child labourers, for the past five years. The home authorities have managed to locate his family in Allahabad.

Before Apna Ghar, Mithun had lived at Childline, another centre in the city. The centre officials had found him loitering at Patna Junction where he had been separated from his family during a train journey. Mithun's parents are no more but he has his grandmother, uncle and younger sister Kajal.

"It had become difficult for us to locate Mithun's family because all he could recall was that he lived in Civil Line," said Apna Ghar superintendent Ravishankar. "We took him to Delhi and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh because a place called Civil Line exists there too. Around one-and-a-half months ago, a person who had come here to look for his child identified Mithun and said he knew the kid's family. Mithun's grandmother, uncle and sister will come on Thursday to take him back."

Mithun has not been told that his parents are dead. "His father could not deal with the boy's disappearance and died," said Ravishankar. "His mother followed soon after."

Known among his friends as "Gabbar", Mithun is popular for his talent in singing and acting. "He is a very good singer and was the only child here who was given singing lessons," said Ravishankar.

When The Telegraph spoke to Mithun, he was extremely happy about being reunited with his family but said he would miss his Apna Ghar family. "The only thing I recall is coming down from the train," he said. "I am happy about meeting my family but will really miss Apna Ghar."

Mithun was so emotionally surcharged that he came up with a Bhojpuri song to share his turbulent feelings.

Apna Ghar officials said there were 105 children at the home at present.