Bihar: Considered dead, Buxar man back after 12 years in Pakistan jail

PATNA: Considered dead by his family members, who even performed his last rites in 2011, a 35-year-old man from Buxar is going to reunite with his family after being lodged in the Karachi jail for 12 years as the Pakistan government has released him from the jail.
Chhavi Musahar, a native of Khilafatpur under Mufassil police station area in the district, had accidentally strayed into Pakistan from Punjab side, a police officer said.
A police team has been sent on April 8 to bring him back from Punjab as the Pakistan rangers handed over Chhavi to the Border Security Force at the Wagah-Attari border, Buxar DM Aman Samir told TOI on Monday. The family members claimed that he was mentally disturbed at the time of his disappearance.
Emotions ran high in Chhavi’s village after the family and relatives got the information about him. His younger brother Manish Musahar told TOI over the phone that their mother, Birti Devi, always prayed for Chhavi’s return. “But we performed his last rites in 2011 after Chhavi could not be traced as we considered him dead,” he said excitedly.
Manish said Chhavi had gone missing two years after his marriage in 2007. “His wife had delivered a boy after a few months at her parents’ home. Later, she married another person from the same village,” he said.
The DM said the police team has received Chhavi from the Red Cross in Amritsar and they were expected to reach Buxar on Tuesday. “The Punjab officials sent us a letter about his release from Karachi jail in March-end. They told us that he was handed over to the BSF and the Red Cross was taking care of him,” he said.
According to his family members, Chhavi had gone missing from his house at the age of 23. His relatives searched for him, but in vain. They also lodged a missing complaint.
Buxar SP Neeraj Kumar Singh said they got the information from the special branch about Chhavi in December. “A police team was sent to his village for verification. His mother said when Chhavi did not return, they thought he might have died,” he said.
“It is still not clear how the man strayed into Pakistan. His family was surprised to know that Chhavi remained in Pakistan jail all these years. As per the information from Amritsar administration, the man is mentally ill. Once he comes, his thorough medical check-up will be done,” the SP said.