JORABAT, Aug 14 - Amidst the new troubles brought about by the pandemic in the country every day, the news of a man with mental disability, who had been on the streets of Jorabat for over four months and is now on his way to his home state Andhra Pradesh, comes as a silver lining.
Thirty-nine-year-old Manik Babu had gone missing from his house in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh in March, following which a missing report was registered by his family in his home state.
Upon seeing Babu looking distressed on the streets of Jorabat during the first lockdown announced in the country, Bibha Das, a local woman shopkeeper, asked her son Rishav Das, who is also joint secretary of the Jorabat ABVP unit, and his friend Hridayananda Puri, to help the man reach his home.
Puri, being a senior NCC cadet, sought help from his friend PO Cadet B Shivaganga from Andhra Pradesh, whom he had met at a national NCC camp in Delhi. The two NCC cadets launched a social media campaign to help find Babu�s family. Puri had also contacted the local police station in Andhra Pradesh and the Jorabat Police Outpost and informed them about the matter.
Soon, the campaign took the social media by storm in Andhra Pradesh and helped Babu�s family know about his current location in Assam. Finally, one fine day the Assam Police received a call from their Andhra Pradesh counterparts regarding the matter. Babu�s family, too, contacted Puri and secured his address.
Babu�s uncle A Venkataramana reached Guwahati by train on August 11 and identified Babu. After going through all legal procedures with Jorabat police, the uncle-nephew duo left Guwahati for Andhra Pradesh late evening on August 12.
�We are very happy that Babu is finally going to meet his family. I sincerely thank my friend Shivaganga from Andhra Pradesh for her help. This is really a proud moment for us. We were showered with blessings by Babu�s family,� said Puri happily.
The Jorabat police and local people thanked the youths for their humanitarian act.
Meanwhile, Commanding Officer of 48 Assam Naval unit of NCC Captain LD Sarma expressed his pleasure and said that the act of the NCC cadets has expressed the values of NCC�s training that instills the sense of �National concern� and �Others before self� among the cadets.
