Sundargarh: Birju Kulu, a resident of Jangatoli village under Kutra block of Sundargarh district who spent 20 years in a Pakistani prison is set to return to his village Friday.
The whole village is cock-a-hoop after hearing about Birju’s return
From Birju’s disappearance and him finding himself behind the bars in a Pakistani jail, the entire episode has all the ingredients for a blockbuster movie.
According Birju’s family, over 25 years ago when Birju went missing under mysterious circumstances, he was working in a hotel in Ranchi in Jharkhand.
Few days later, they came to know that Birju was arrested in Pakistan on charges of espionage.
When Birju went missing from the hotel he was apparently mentally unstable. He somehow reached Amritsar and from there, crossed the border and landed in Pakistan.
He was immediately arrested for entering Pakistan without any documents. He was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.
He spent the entire term at Lahore jail.
Last October, Birju completed his term and he was handed over to Indian authorities at the border October 26. From there he was immediately taken to a hospital in Amritsar for a COVID-19 test. His sample came out to be positive for the virus infection.
Back in Jangatoli village, his family had given up all hopes of seeing Birju again. They said they were on cloud nine when they came to know about Birju’s whereabouts from the district administration.
In Birju’s family, none but his elder sister is alive. It was learnt that Birju’s parents had died when he was in Pakistan.
A district administration team had left for Amritsar to get Birju back to his village. His sister, relatives and villagers are eagerly waiting for the moment when Birju returns.
PNN