Kozhikode: Four children went missing from the Government Children's Home for Boys, Vellimadukunnu here on Saturday.

CCTV footage revealed the boys escaped by removing the rails on a bathroom window in their building. 

The authorities discovered that the boys - Unnikrishnan (16 years), Nihal, (17), Abhinav (15) and Nikhil (16) - were missing at 6 am on Saturday. Unnikrishnan and Nihal, who hail from Perambra, are convicted in criminal cases. 

Abhinav is from Malappuram. Nikhil was taken to the boys home by Railway police while roaming alone in the railway station premises.

The boys received help from two persons outside for escaping, said police officials after checking the CCTV visuals. 

A probe has been initiated under the supervision of K E Baiju, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kozhikode to find the missing children.

Information on the boys were sent to police stations across the state and Railway Protection Force (RPF) to help with the investigation.

The National Human Rights Commission had issued a notice to the Kerala government and state police chief last year after nine girls went missing from a shelter home in Kottayam. It was later shut down by the government.