WB: Ham radio enthusiasts help Nepali woman return to homeland

Kolkata: The ham radio enthusiasts in the state have been instrumental in successfully uniting a Nepali woman, trafficked to Uttar Pradesh at the time of turmoil in the neighbouring country, with her husband.

One Sujoy Ghosh, a resident of Kasba in Kolkata, had found the woman moving aimlessly during his recent visit to Uttar Pradesh. Hearing the woman speaking incoherently, he suspected something was wrong and sought help from the shopkeepers so that she could be handed over to the police for necessary medical assistance. However, no one came forward and Ghosh was asked to approach the police all by himself.

Being a tourist, it was impossible for Ghosh to get hold of the police authorities’ contact number in an unknown state. He contacted the West Bengal Radio Club - the organisation of ham radio operators in the state - who sought help from the Ghaziabad Police.

The latter rescued the woman and brought her to the police station and with the permission of a court admitted her for treatment at Pandeypur Mental Hospital in Varanasi. The police tried their best to question the woman and trace her whereabouts, but she did not speak up.

“We made a number of video calls and tried to trace her address. After much difficulty, we understood that she was speaking in Nepali. We contacted the office of the Nepal Consulate in Kolkata as well as the Indian embassy in Kathmandu and found that no missing complaint has been lodged in any police station of Nepal. After extensive search we traced her address at Sarlahi district and a councillor was the first to trace her by her photograph,” said Ambarish Nag Biswas , secretary of WBRC.