Ham operators help mentally unstable Telugu man reunite with family

By Sruthi Kuruganti Hyderabad: A 22-year-old man, who was reportedly mentally unstable and taking shelter at a home run by the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata for almost a year, has now been reunited with his family in Anantapur here, thanks to the efforts of Ham radio operators. Devaraj Achari, who was neither in a […]

By Sruthi Kuruganti

Hyderabad: A 22-year-old man, who was reportedly mentally unstable and taking shelter at a home run by the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata for almost a year, has now been reunited with his family in Anantapur here, thanks to the efforts of Ham radio operators.

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Devaraj Achari, who was neither in a state to speak nor think properly, was handed over to his family in the presence of senior officials of the police and the district administration, according to Ambarish Nag Biswas, Secretary, West Bengal Radio Club.

Explaining how he and his team managed to find Devaraj’s address despite language barriers, Biswas said: “It seemed impossible at first because of his inability to speak and also the language barrier. When I asked him to write his details on paper, he wrote some names in a language that I couldn’t understand. After sending the details to Ham operators all over the country, Ram Mohan Suri, director of the National Institute of Amateur Radio in Hyderabad and S Manjunath, member of the Indian Institute of Hams, Bengaluru, responded by identifying the language written as Telugu.”

Devaraj wrote his name along with that of his father and also of their village. Eventually the team discovered that the village was in Anantapur and contacted the local police. They managed to find one of his school friends, who said they were searching for him and had no idea that he reached Kolkata. How he reached Kolkata is still unknown.

Biswas shared that Devaraj’s mom was emotional to see her son back. “She thanked us for finding and getting her son back. He was unstable and couldn’t speak properly. He is now receiving counselling and might be able to speak in three months,” he said.

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