Mentally-retarded man reunites with family, thanks to Ham radio operators

Kolkata: A mentally-retarded man who was estranged from his family united with his parents after ham radio operators successfully managed to trace his family members.

It was nearly 20 days back when Shyamal Das was found roaming at Hingalganj Krishak Bazar in North 24 Parganas.

A shopkeeper named Susanta Ghosh noticed him and inquired about his address. He told him that he is from Bardhman.

"Initially, the vendors in the market suspected him of being a vagrant. After inquiring, they came to know that the 30-year-old retarded man had lost his way and gave him shelter," Hirak Sinha, vice president of West Bengal Radio Club (WBRC).

"We managed to trace the residence of Shyamal after a frantic search. Then we contacted the police station of that area. The police confirmed us that his family members had lodged a missing diary. Today, his brother Khokhon Das came to took him to his home," Ambarish Nag Biswas, custodian and secretary of West Bengal Radio Club, an organisation of ham radio enthusiasts in the state, said. Shyamal has five brothers and one sister. His father's name Gadai Das and mother's name is Dabu Das.

He is a resident of Ketugram in Bardhaman.

While radio amateurs use a variety of voice, text, image, and data communications modes and have access to frequency allocations throughout the RF spectrum, it enables communication across a city, region, country, continent, the world, or even into space.

Amateur radio is officially represented and coordinated by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), which is organised in three regions and has as its members the national amateur radio societies which exist in most countries.