Bhubaneswar (Orissa): As many as 8 out of 56 riot affected people from Orissa’s tribal dominated Kandhamal district, are reportedly missing in southern State of Kerala, where they were sheltering since August last year following communal violence that broke out after the brutal murder of Hindu seer Swami Laxmananda Saraswati at his Jalespata Ashram on August 23, 2008.
Though, officials in Kerala, making all out effort to taken back the affected people to their native villages in Kandhamal, the report of missing, has put the officials under severe pressure, sources said.
“The missing persons were staying at a relief camp at Kochi and believed to have returned to Orissa,” sources said.
Since some of the refugees were taken back home by their relatives after normalcy was restored, only 46 persons are waiting to be sent back from the camp.
Sources in the Kerala Social Welfare Department said, “A section of the refugees had become restless.
They used to request us to take them back to Orissa. But the Kerala Government has to weigh all options, including reviewing the present situation in Orissa. The Government cannot act in an impulsive manner on the refugees’ demand.”
Sources said a senior government official from Kerala would soon visit Orissa to facilitate their smooth return.
Money would be released from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for meeting the cost of the journey.
The state has approached the Railways for dedicating a bogey of the Alappuzha-Dhanbad Express to take them back to Orissa.
Meanwhile, the Welfare Department has lodged a complaint with the local police regarding the missing group, comprising two couples and three young women.
They had left the camp early on Tuesday, leaving a note which said they were returning to Orissa. But neither the department nor the police have shown much interest in tracking them down.
Sourse: odishatoday
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