Kolkata: A 25-year-old woman, allegedly abducted from Shyampur in Howrah to Uttar Pradesh, is all set to be united with her family with the assistance of ham radio enthusiasts in the state and Amta MLA Sukanta Pal. The woman had gone missing in January last year after she had gone to hand over home-cooked food to her brother, who is a boatman operating in Garchumuk, a popular picnic destination. A few days ago, the secretary of the West Bengal Radio Club—an organisation of ham radio enthusiasts in the state—received a call from the Uttar Pradesh Police seeking assistance in tracing the family of a Bengali-speaking woman they said had been rescued from a truck near the Benares area. It was informed that the girl with some mental challenge was admitted to Pandeypur Mental Hospital. The Uttar Pradesh Police believed the woman might be from Bengal, given her clear fluency in Bengali. “We were told she couldn’t recall her address or where she came from. Over the few days, we spoke with her 28 times and eventually managed to gather a clue that pointed to her being from the Garchumuk area,” a ham radio expert said.
However, the ham radio team’s search for the woman’s family in and around Garchumuk proved challenging, as locals, assuming they were from the Election Commission, were hesitant to share any information. “In this backdrop, I contacted MLA Sukanta Pal, and it was he who helped us locate her brother Sekh Faridul from the Gurepole area. On Saturday morning, the woman could not help shedding tears when we made her brother talk to her through a video call,“ the expert added. “We must contribute in any way we can to noble causes, and we are always ready to support such efforts. My gratitude to the ham radio team for their dedication,” Pal said. The woman’s brother is set to leave for Pandeypur on Saturday night to bring his estranged sister home.