Ham operators reunite Telugu woman lost in Kolkata with her family

The woman who was in her eighties got off their vehicle to use the washroom and unfortunately got separated from her family.

Hyderabad: Yet again proving Ham radio to be a resourceful communication channel, operators from Kolkata and Vijayawada helped an elderly Telugu woman lost in Kolkata reunite with her family in Vizianagaram.

Sita Rao and her family visited West Bengal in 2021 and went to attend the famous Gangasagar Mela. The woman who was in her eighties got off their vehicle to use the washroom and unfortunately got separated from her family.

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Since then, she has been living on the streets of Kolkata with nowhere to go, until February this year when the local police rescued her with a broken leg and ribs after an accident. They admitted her to the Sambhunath Pandit Hospital.

According to Ambrish Nag Biswas, Secretary and Custodian of the West Bengal Radio Club, given the language barrier, police and hospital staff were unable to help the woman. “As Ham operators, we are often consulted in these cases, as we were successful in the past in reuniting lost persons with their families,” he says.

Dr. Shubroto De, Superintendent of the hospital who was aware of Ambrish and his team’s work reached out to them around fifteen days back.

“We took all the details from the hospital, took her pictures, and sent them to all the Ham operators we knew in South India. Luckily, Azad Ramesh Babu, a Ham radio operator from Vijayawada was able to identify the grandson of the woman,” he added.

After an emotional video call with the woman four days back, the family breathed a sigh of relief. Sita Rao’s grandson Ravi Kumar will soon reach Kolkata and bring back the elderly woman to her home, thanks to the efforts of the Ham operators.