Chhattisgarh man reunited with family after 25 years

KALYAN: Twenty-five years after a 52-year-old mentally challenged man from Chhattisgarh went missing, he was reunited with his family.
A Kalyan-based NGO along with the Chhattisgarh police helped locate the man's family. On Sunday, his brother and other relatives from Bilaspur reached Kalyan. NGO representatives along with the local police handed Salim Shaikh to his younger brother Junaid Shaikh.
On June 19, advocate Vinayak Abhale, who runs an NGO called Adhar Samajik Sanstha, which works for mentally challenged beggars and ailing destitutes, learnt from his volunteers about an elderly man wandering in Bail Bazaar area of Kalyan (west).
Talking to TOI, Abhale said, "When I met the man, he was reluctant to talk. He only said his name was Salim Shaikh and he hailed from Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh." Abhale then got the mobile number of Pradeep Gupta, inspector general of police of Bilaspur Range, from the Internet. Abhale contacted Gupta and informed him about Salim and also shared his photograph on WhatsApp.
When Gupta's team drew a blank, Abhale went back to Salim and gently coaxed him to share more details. Salim opened up and said he hailed from Indira Colony area near Vidya Nagar.
On June 20, Gupta's team managed to trace Salim's family located under Tarbahar police station in Bilaspur district.
Meanwhile, another problem cropped up. Abhale said Salim, who kept wandering the streets, could not be found. He then took the help of the local Mahatma Phule police station, which managed to locate Salim. They sent him to an ashram in Dombivli.
On Sunday, after Salim's younger brother Junaid and other relatives arrived in the city, Abhale and the local police verified the family's details and handed him over. Talking to TOI, Junaid said, "We are very happy that after so many years, my older brother is reunited with the family."
Junaid said Salim had left home in 1994 and never returned. "After my brother went missing, my parents searched for him across the country by visiting many dargahs and other places. But they gave up the search after 10 years, believing him to be dead," he added.
Junaid said the family comprises five brothers and one sister. "Five years ago, our brother, Aleem, passed away, while our mother, Rajia, died a year ago." Their father, who is 75 years old, was unable to come to Kalyan to meet his son, but Junaid said he was overjoyed on hearing the news.
Abhale was all praise for Gupta who managed to track down Salim's family in 48 hours.