Kerala - Kochi   

Kandhamal refugees leave for Orissa

KOCHI: Seven months after they arrived in Kerala fleeing death and religious violence in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, 36 Christian refugees boarded a train for home on Sunday evening with their hearts filled with hope and longing amid fear and uncertainty.

In a special coach on the Thiruvananthapura-Guwahati Express, 29 refugees belonging to nine tribal families who had been lodged at the one-day home at Kakkanad ever since they arrived here on October 30 last, left Kochi while seven others joined them at Thrissur. Kerala government’s joint director of social welfare B. Pratapan and a police team of two male constables, two females and a sub-inspector are accompanying the refugees to Orissa. When the refugees get off at the Berhampur railway station on Tuesday midnight, they will be greeted by Director of Social Welfare of Kerala government K. Ajaya Kumar; district magistrate (Collector) of Kandhamal Dr. Krishna Kumar; the district labour officer; the Balliguda taluk tahsildar and other Orissa officials. Mr. Ajaya Kumar will formally hand them over to the Kandhamal DM.

Mr. Ajaya Kumar, who had been despatched by the Kerala government on Thursday to Bhubaneswar to make sure that senior Orissa officials took the responsibility for the refugees’ safety, had met chief secretary A.K. Tripathi and other officials.

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