Team Herald
MARGAO: “My fellow pilgrims left with my luggage and never returned,” is how Umesh Naik, a Goan Vaishnodevi pilgrim, summed up his harrowing experience on his return home from Katra in Jammu, where he went missing on July 9.
When Umesh alighted from Howrah-Vasco Express train at Curchorem on Wednesday at 4 pm, onlookers were shocked to see his condition as he had many bruises on his body, was fragile and was too weak to even walk — he hadn’t eaten for the last six days.
On alighting at Curchorem railway station, he reportedly waved at a motorcycle pilot, known to him, who dropped him home at Deulamol. Since Umesh was very fragile and his health condition was critical, he was taken to the Cacoda Government hospital and then was shifted to Hospicio.
When news spread of Umesh’s return, his friends and relatives flocked to the hospital to visit him.
Recounting his misery, Umesh said that his bag was taken by his fellow pilgrims; the bag contained his mobile phone, wallet, three pairs of clothes. “I was ready to go for Vaishnavdevi visit; my medical test was supposed to be conducted. But my fellow pilgrims left me taking all my belongings with them,” Umesh said.
“I waited for my fellow pilgrims at Katra for three days. Since all my money was over, I had to stay at the bus stand in extreme cold. Some shopkeepers sympathised for me and gave me a shawl. Since none of my fellow pilgrims returned, I went to the Katra Police station where I told my story. The police sympathised with me and gave me food. They also gave me Rs 200 to travel back to Delhi,” Umesh said.
He said that the 200 rupees given by the Katra police was just sufficient to reach Delhi and he had to go hungry for three days after arriving in Delhi.
“Since I did not know on which platform Nizamuddin Express arrives, I missed that train; then, after three days, a person helped me board Howrah-Vasco Express and another person gave me a blanket,” Umesh recounted.
“I slept on empty stomach and freezing cold on Delhi railway station, for three days,” he said.
Umesh, however, doesn’t remember how he got the bruises on his body. “I may have fallen on some bushes in Katra,” he said.
The Hospicio medical officials said that Umesh would be shifted to Goa Medical College Hospital for specialised treatment.
A travel agent and some family members who had gone to Katra in search of Umesh have begun returning, after they were informed that Umesh has reached home.
