Man reunited with family after two decades

A poor man in Karnataka who lost his way while travelling by train and ended up in Jammu & Kashmir was reunited with his family by a group of army men who found him working in a hotel.

Hubli: An elderly man who boarded the wrong train two decades ago and subsequently went missing has been reunited with his family by the Indian Army.

Kenchappa Govindappa Vaddara, a resident of Karnataka's Dharwad district, left home for work years ago and boarded a train without a ticket.

Railway officials got him off the train at Haridwar and later he took another train, eventually reaching Jammu and Kashmir where he took up a job at a hotel to support himself for a small salary.

Kenchappa said that he was cheated by the hotel owner for years and worked without a proper meal, water and even without wages sometimes.

He also said that the hotel owner used to tie his hands and legs and put him in a room at night.

Kenchappa said, one day some army personnel came to the hotel and he narrated his ordeal to them. The soldiers then managed to get him back home and reunited him with his family.

Kenchappa has four sons and two daughters who were elated at being reunited with their father.

His family said many complaints were made to the authorities, but none could find him and expressed their gratitude to the army personnel.