Bokaro, Dec. 14: Classes were not held today at the St Xavier?s School here in protest against the district administration?s failure to locate a Class VI student of the school who has been missing since November 28.

The school grounds were, however, kept open for a prayer meeting that was attended by more than 3,000 students, parents, teachers and principals belonging to several schools of Bokaro. Everyone had gathered to pray for the safe return of 14-year-old Nishant Priyadarshi.

A case of kidnapping was lodged at the city police station a few days ago but despite raids being conducted at several places in both Bokaro and Dhanbad the police have failed to come up with anything concrete.

Nishant, a resident of Sector-III D of Bokaro Steel City, had left for school that day at around 8.30 am but never reached the place.

The only son of Navin Kumar Verma who works as an executive engineer in the state water resources department, Nishant was an average student at school.

Sources said the day before he went missing, the Class VI student had an altercation with his friends and was even scolded by his parents for his studies. They added that Nishant did not take the same route to school, which was hardly 500 metres from his residence.

The police have till now not confirmed that the boy has been abducted. According to them, the boy?s disappearance could have something to do with his studies. Moreover, if the boy was abducted where were his bicycle and books.

?Another thing is that no ransom calls have been received so far even after so many days. This has made the case more complicated,? said an investigating officer who was on the case.

Superintendent of police, Bokaro, Manvinder Singh Bhatia, said the boy was not very good at his studies but that did not solve the puzzle. ?If it is a case of kidnapping where are the ransom calls. The police are still groping in the dark for a few vital informations. A special task team has been constituted, which will now go out of the town to search for the boy. The police is trying its best to locate the kid,? he added.