ITBP accords top service honour to troops who helped elderly man

New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI):
Three Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel who helped reunite a stranded 70-year-old man with his family in Karnataka after about three decades have been awarded the top force commendation for undertaking the humanitarian task.
The troops, posted with the 36th battalion of the border force in Uttarakhand’s Lohaghat, found Kenchappa Govindappa at a roadside eatery in nearby Chalti village of the state when one of them stopped there for refreshments early this year.
Constable Riyaz Sunkad saw the condition of the man and described the incident to his two seniors in the battalion who also hailed from Karnataka- Head Constables Premananda Pai and Sharana Basava Ragapur.
“I and Basava (Ragapur) later went to the eatery as we were also proceeding on leave. We found the man was in real bad physical shape and was in an emotional shock as he was lost for years and could not get in touch with his family or relatives.” “The man knew only Kannada and could not communicate in Hindi. He used to sleep at a bus stop behind the eatery even in bone chilling winters,” Pai told PTI. The two ITBP jawans sought more information from the eatery owner and were informed that Kenchappa had come to this location on a truck many years back and that he was not paid any money. “The eatery owner only gave him food for helping him in the daily chores of the shop,” Pai said. He was living like a destitute and no one could understand his plight as no one could understand him, he said. The two troopers later made a video with the man at the eatery and uploaded it on social media platforms like Facebook following which they received a call from an advocate who knew Kenchappa’s family that lived in Kalghatagi village of Dharwad district in Karnataka.