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Ham radio operator helping people stranded outside State

By City Correspondent

GUWAHATI, May 5 - Taheruddin Ahmed, an Assam Police officer and amateur ham radio operator based in Guwahati has been helping several people of the State stranded in different parts of the country due to the nationwide lockdown.

The 55-year-old Ahmed has used the ham radio network in the country to help people stranded in states like Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. He also works as a senior instructor in the Assam Police Radio Organisation (APRO).

�I had come across a lot of information through the ham radio network about people being stuck due to the nationwide lockdown. Food items and other essential items have been arranged for those stranded people with the help of various NGOs, ham operators and ham radio clubs across the country,� he said. �Recently, I came to know about several people who went to Vellore in Tamil Nadu for treatment before the lockdown. I contacted Dr Shashi Kumar, secretary of Tamil Nadu Private Ambulance Drivers and Owners Association for help. Kumar sent a team to Assam Bhawan in Vellore and distributed food items to 20 people,� he added.

West Bengal Radio Club secretary Ambarish Nag Biswas helped school students from Assam who were stuck in Kolkata due to the lockdown. �I got information about the 20 students that they had run out of food. I immediately contacted Biswas for help. He arranged 15 days� ration and gave it to them,� Ahmed said.

The APRO instructor has also set up a statewide network of radio communication during the lockdown. The network, Central Amateur Radio Activity Centre, Guwahati which has 60 members, has been helping the police in different ways during the lockdown. Community radios and internet radios are also serving people during the countrywide lockdown and creating awareness against the deadly coronavirus.

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