Family reunites with missing son after four years

Gradual rise in number of tourists visiting Odisha since 2014 Bhubaneswar: The number of domestic tourists visiting Odisha has been continuously increasing since 2014 till 2018. The same is for foreigners except for 2015 when the figures went down a little. In response to a starred question raised in the Assembly by Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, the Tourism Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi of Odisha gave this information. In 2014 the number of domestic visitors were over 1.5 crore. In 2015, a total of 1,17,86,117 domestic tourists visited different locations in Odisha, followed by 1,28,42, 899 in 2016, 1,40,11,229 in 2017 and 1,52,08,540 in 2018. Likewise, a total of 71,426 foreigners visited Odisha in 2014. However, in 2015, the footfall of foreign tourists decreased to 66, 971. However, the number again went up in 2016, with arrival of 76,361 foreign travellers. In 2017 and 2018, the number of foreigners visiting Odisha were 1,00,014 and 1,10, 818 respectively. Panigrahi also informed that the government has taken up various projects for the development of tourist spots in Koraput district. For 13 development projects, the government has sanctioned Rs 5,09,44,012 between the 2014-15 and 2019-20 financial years, he informed. Tags: domestic tourists, Tara Prasad Bahinipati

Odagaon: After four years of him going missing, the family of a young man from Kakatpur area in Puri district finally reunited with him Thursday night, thanks to the efforts of inspector-in-charge (IIC) of Odagaon model police station in Nayagarh district.

The family of Ramesh Kandi, residents of Ulukuda (Jaleshpada) village under Kakatpur police limits, had been oscillating between hope and despair ever since he went untraceable few years back.

According to a source, the missing man was traced while Odagaon IIC Mamata Pati was visiting local banks to review their security preparedness Wednesday. During the operation, she spotted a young man loitering suspiciously near a private bank at Bahadapitha on Odgaon- Bahadajhola main road.

While she attempted to figure out the identity of the man, nobody was able to say much. The young man, himself, was not in a position to give details about his identity. He barely could mumble a few words.

Seeing the condition of the man, the IIC took him to the police station in her vehicle. There she offered him some food and tried to get some information out of him. Even then he could not speak much apart from few words in several languages including Odia. That said, the IIC sensed he possibly belonged to Kakatpur area in Puri district.

She then contacted her counterpart at Kakatpur police station. On being informed by Kakatpur police, father of the young man Ramesh along with some family members reached Odagaon police station Thursday evening and recognised the man as his youngest son Sanjay.

Family sources said, after matriculation, Sanjay had gone to Surat and then Chennai to work at spin mills. For the first two years, he had been sending money to his family and talking to the family members over phone regularly. That said, his family members had lost contact with him for the last two years. All their all attempts to find out Sanjay yielded no result.

Meanwhile, Sanjay had lost his mental balance and his job. He had been loitering here and there. A young man from Sanjay’s neighbouring village once recognised him in Chennai and bought him a ticket and made him board Konark Express for home. Later, the man had informed his family members that Sanjay was returning home on the train. It is assumed that after getting down from the train at Bhubaneswar station, he might have gone to Odagaon, instead of Kakatpur.

The cops handed over Sanjay to his family members after verifying their Aadhar card.

PNN

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