Alerted by tweet, police extend helping hand to hapless family

Coimbatore: Heeding the call of a man stranded in Arunachal Pradesh to help his lockdown-hit family here, the Coimbatore rural police delivered groceries at the family home on Saturday.
Kannan of KG Garden City Apartment at Nagarajapuram had left for Arunachal Pradesh a few months ago, leaving behind his 65-year-old father Arjun, mother Sundari, elder sister Kavitha and her two school-going children. He was a teacher at a private school in the northeastern state. Kavitha supplemented the family income by working as a maid at a house in RS Puram.
But the second coronavirus wave caught them unawares. While Kannan was rendered jobless due to the lockdown and was stranded in Arunachal Pradesh, Kavitha’s employers insisted she stay with them to reduce the chances of becoming infected. As a result, Arjun, who is partially paralysed, and Sundari, had to take care of Kavitha’s children. The family was in a precarious situation after running out of food two days ago.
The crisis prompted Kannan to post a distress tweet tagging the Coimbatore rural police. Cops responded to his tweet and alerted district superintendent of police S Selvanagarathinam, who instructed the Vadavalli police to help the family.
M Kumaravel, head constable attached to the special branch, and Vadavalli police head constable Kumar visited the family with 10kg rice, cooking oil and vegetables on Saturday. “It will be sufficient for the family for a week. I will bring grocery items for the family till total lockdown is relaxed,” Kumaravel said.