PONDA: This is taken straight out of a potboiler Hindi flick. Raju, popularly known as anath (orphan) Raju who lived most of his life in the police station here and had no family (blood ties with anyone), on Wednesday to the utter surprise of the locals, a Muslim family came to ‘claim’ him as their son.
Even more surprising, his ‘mom’ aged 80, requested PI Sudesh Naik of Ponda that in an eventuality, they should handover his mortal remains to them for the final rites! The family had ‘intended’ to take him ‘home’, but Rehman Bi, his ‘mom’ said Raju was in love with Ponda and Goa and refused to go ‘home’ permanently. In order to conduct his final rites as per Muslim rules, Rehman Bi requested the cops to inform the family in case of an eventuality. She also thanked them for taking care of her ‘son’.
Raju is a useful citizen and keeps helping the cops in their work and facilitating the local people.
Always dressed in khaki, Raju is a friendly person and has gelled well with the locals, media persons and the cops. People are fond of him. Raju, however, narrates his version to them through sign language.
People have lost count of when they first saw him in Ponda. He has been around for ages, probably since his childhood and nobody is aware of his family background. That is the popular ‘folklore’ about this Raju!
He even controls vehicular traffic during jam sessions. Though not on the payroll, he appears to be like a policeman!
His ‘mother’ went on to say that Raju hailed from Ghandinagar Khanapur in Belgaum and left home since childhood. His original name is Nur Ahemedh Abdul Sheikh. Raju’s ‘brother’s’ son Labib also arrived at Ponda Police Station.
Rehman Bi also said he was studying at the primary level and left home after being chided by his ‘dad’ for having secured low marks. She went on to say that he left Belgaum and reached Goa at the age of 6.
His ‘mother’ also claimed that he visited the family once in two years. This was hard for the locals to believe as Raju is always ‘there’ for them.
The woman went on to say that his ‘dad’ Abdul Rehman served in the armed forces and later joined Karnataka Police and passed away in 2010. Raju, she said, could not attend his “father’s” funeral as he had just left for Goa after a short break “at home.”
Raju, she says, is the eldest of 7 brothers and two sisters. He lost a brother last year. As he talks very less, people must have mistaken him to be dumb, Rehmain Bi concluded.
