Puri/Bhubaneswar: Police commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi and some of his friends Friday rescued their college-time friend who had been begging in Puri town for last couple of years.
Shreejit Padhi, a resident of Badasankha Nua Sahi in Puri district, had been brilliant in his study. Shreejit and commissioner Sarangi were classmates while they were pursuing post-graduation in Economics at Ravenshaw College. After completion of their higher education, they were all busy with their jobs and family lives, hardly getting any time to keep track of each other.
Shreejit aspired to crack OAS examinations. He is learnt to have been burning midnight oil to clear the examinations. However, his failure at it took a toll on his mental health following which he was seen loitering in Puri town, living on alms.
Commissioner Sarangi and some of his friends, somehow, came to know about Shreejit. Informed by the commissioner, other friends started searching for Shreejit and finally traced him moving along the grand road Friday. He was unkempt with matted locks and beard.
Initially, Shreejit was reluctant to go with them but later agreed after much cajoling. He was taken to Puri district headquarters hospital and subsequently to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack for further treatment.
Notably, like Shreejit, an engineer — a resident of Bhubaneswar — used to beg in Puri town until rescued by his family members recently. There are many beggars in the holy town of Puri and at least some of them are circumstance-driven, some locals observed.
PNN