Son traces Telangana worker in Kuwait after 27 years, gets news of his death

HYDERABAD: Twenty-seven years after he left Telangana in search of a job in Kuwait, a man from Nizamabad district died in that country on Thursday.
After he had left India in 1993, Chakali Bhoomaiah (65) never visited his native Lingapur village in Indalvai mandal. He died just when his son, Suresh (28), thought that he had traced his father after nearly two decades.
Bhoomaiah’s family came to know about his whereabouts from a video that was circulating.“On Wednesday night, I identified my father from the video. A group of persons spoke to him where he had mentioned the name of his village as Yellareddypalli, which is close to our village. After checking the name on the passport copy, we recognised him as my father,” Suresh told TOI.
Sources said Bhoomaiah stayed back in Kuwait and did not attempt to get back home even once. He could not return as he was cheated and did not have his passport, sources said.
In the video, NRIs from Telangana noticed his failing health and were seen telling him that they would like to sponsor his trip back home.
“The next morning after I saw the video, I called them up only to be informed that he had passed away,” Suresh said.
Getting the body of Bhoomaiah from Kuwait is a task now. The Indian embassy in Kuwait is in touch with the family.
“We were informed that my father was not even in possession of the passport,” Suresh said. Gulf Telangana Welfare and Cultural Association president Patkuri Basanth Reddy said he was in touch with some volunteers, who were trying to send the body to Nizamabad.
When Bhoomaiah left for Kuwait in 1993, his elder daughter Sunitha was four years and younger daughter Laxmi was three years. Suresh was one year old then. It was only once, in 2007, that Bhoomaiah had called up his family.
“He probably did not want to return as there were huge debts to be cleared,” Suresh said. Even when he was asked in the video by the group of Telangana volunteers if he would like to return home to see his family, Bhoomaiah evinced no interest.