Lost for more than a yr, Ham radio operators help find child's family
KOLKATA: A five-year-old girl, who was found weeping alone at Kolkata Railway Station by the Railway Police in August 2021, was reunited with her family at Sahebganj in Jharkhand by Ham Radio enthusiasts in the state. The girl was lodged at a child rescue home at Behala in South Kolkata.
The Railway Police handed the child to an NGO, which takes care of missing children. The NGO, later, handed over the child to a private home at Behala in December 2021.
"The girl would often weep and request us to trace her family members. She hailed from a Hindi-speaking background. She had been able to pick up Bengali language in very less time. She scored over 90 per cent marks in Class II final examinations from Bani Niketan Primary School, which is Bengali medium school," a spokesperson from the private home said.
Later, the home authorities contacted Ambarish Nag Biswas, the secretary of West Bengal Radio Club- an organisation of ham radio enthusiasts in the state.
"We have traced her family members at Taljhari, Sahebganj in Jharkhand. Both the girl and her family members have recognised each other through photographs circulated through WhatsApp," Nag Biswas said.
The girl's father sells baskets at railway stations and often his children would accompany him. The day when she went missing, she along with her three brothers were playing hide-and-seek at one such station and the girl had boarded a train stationed there for hiding.
The train left the station and thus the minor girl got separated from her family.