Daijworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Sep 25: A young man from Panja in Sullia taluk, who used to work for a reputed company as AC mechanic for seven years in the Gulf, and was sent back home by the company after he suddenly became depressed and began to behave strangely. On the way back home, he was lost at Mumbai. Thanks to a WhatsApp group, he has since been found and united with his family.

The man in question, aged 28, was earning handsomely and was supporting his family at Panja. After he started behaving strangely because of depression, his company officials, who saw that his mental faculties were deteriorating with each passing day, decided to send him back to India. They sent him back to the city via Mumbai four days back alone. But the man, who boarded a flight on the night of September 21, reached Mumbai but got lost thereafter. The fact that heavy downpour at Mumbai had resulted in erratic flight schedules added to the confusion of the youth, who was unable to think clearly. While the passengers of this specific flight came to the city late by another flight, the youth from Panja, for whose arrival his elder and younger brothers were waiting, did not reach here. They checked at the airport and found that the man had reached Mumbai. Knowing fully well that their brother was not of sound mind, they took the matter with the company which operates the aircraft and were told that they had waited for man who failed to make an appearance during onward flight to the city, and even had even called him over his cellphone but his cellphone had been switched off.

The family of the youth then came to know about 'Yuva Tejas' group of some youngsters from Panja in Sullia taluk, which aims at mitigating hardships of people. A number of members of this group at Mumbai immediately visited the airport at Mumbai and began searching for Kiran and made lot of enquiries but failed to get any clue. A person from Mumbai who was a colleague of this youth at the same company at Abu Dhabi, who was returning to Abu Dhabi that day, met the missing man in the airport and talked to him. The man in question had told his colleague that he would be going to his native place. He saw the Whatsapp Group post which said the man had been lost after getting seated in the return flight, and therefore immediately called the company management to inform that the missing man was in Mumbai airport.

Finally, the missing youth was traced in the airport surroundings but it became very difficult to convince him to come back to native place. He said he was fearful that people around would kill him. At last, with lots of pressure and cajoling, he was convinced to come to a hotel at Mumbai where he was put up, and his brothers went to Mumbai by night train thereafter and brought their elder brother back home by bus the next day. But for the said WhatsApp group, the family shudders to think what fate he would have met had be continued to roam around Mumbai listlessly.