Purushottampur: People of Rishipur village in Ganjam district celebrated Thursday as a co-villager, who had gone missing 13 years ago, returned home.
The joy of his family was beyond description. “We had given up hope of seeing Jagannath Behera. When we saw him our happiness knew no bounds. We are thankful to Lord Jagannath and Shri Shri Jagannath Odia Samaj of Imphal for bringing him back,” said his family.
The poor finances of Jagannath’s family had forced him to leave his village 13 years ago. He had gone to Mumbai looking for work. Since then, he had not visited his village even once or nor did contact his family in any manner.
His mother, Phula Behera, (70), had been crying for her son. The mental trauma Jagannath’s wife Basanti underwent can be imagined. “All these years, I had been praying for his safe return. It never seemed to me that something bad happened to him,” she said.
A few days ago, Jagannath was found wandering in Imphal. The police picked him up and informed Shree Shree Jagannath Odia Samaj, an organisation of Odias.
Sangram Samal of Jajpur district who lives in Imphal informed Ganjam SP Brijesh Kumar Ray about Jagannath. Purusotttampur IIC Ajay Kumar Barik collected details about Jagannath and informed the SP.
Shri Shri Jagannath Odia Samaj arranged documents and brought him from Manipur airport to Bhubaneswar and then to Purusottampur.
When Purusottampur IIC Barik and ASI Ramesh Chandra Pradhan brought Jagannath in a van to Rishipur, Jagannath’s minor son Bhikari gave Rs 10,000 to Shri Shri Jagannath Odia Samaj to meet the cost incurred by them.
PNN
