Patna, Apr 11 (IANS): The Pakistan government has released from its jail a man from Bihar's Buxar district, 12 years after he accidentally strayed into the neighbouring country, a police official said.

Chavi Kumar, a native of Khilafat Pur under Mufassil police station in the district, had gone to Punjab as a labourer to earn his livelihood. One night, while returning from an agricultural field after work, he lost his way and reached Pakistan.

He was arrested by the rangers for illegally entering the territories of Pakistan and lodged in a jail in Karachi.

"We received a letter from a special branch in the month of December last year regarding him. We immediately went to the village and gathered the information about him and cross checked the details mentioned in the letter. The villagers said that a person had been missing for 12 years. Accordingly, we met Chavi Kumar's mother who immediately identified him," said Amit Kumar, SHO of Mufassil police station.

"Following the confirmation, we submitted the report with a special branch which further communicated to the external affairs ministry. Now, we have learnt that Pakistani rangers have handed over Chavi Kumar to BSF on April 5 and the process of bringing him back home in Buxar is currently underway. A team of Buxar police is on its way to Gurdaspur Punjab to bring him back," Kumar said.

His mother said that Chavi had gone missing two years after his marriage in 2009. He was 23 years old then. When he failed to return, his mother presuming him to be dead, performed his last rites. Chavi's wife also remarried after his disappearance, the officer said.

"When we informed the old woman that her son is alive, she was overwhelmed. Now, she is eagerly waiting for her son's return," he said.