Lawyer, HAM operators to reunite hearing-impaired missing Bihar teen with kin
Times of India | 5 July 2026
Kolkata: An 18-year-old hearing- and speech-impaired boy from Bihar, who was missing for nearly 14 months, is finally set to return home after a remarkable chain of events involving a lawyer, the police, a voluntary organisation and HAM radio enthusiasts.
The teenager, Khurshid Alam, was spotted near Kankinara station, following which efforts were launched to identify him. Within hours of his photograph being circulated through the HAM radio network, volunteers traced his family in Biharâs East Champaran, paving the way for his reunion after more than a year.
His family members from Mansingha in East Champaran have already started for Kankinara to bring their son back home.
According to local sources, the boy was spotted vomiting on a roadside at Rath Tala near Kankinara station on June 28 by a passer-by, advocate Sony Bagchi, a resident of Durganagar near Madral in Kankinara.
âRealising that the boy was in distress, I stopped to help him. I soon discovered that he was hearing-impaired and had severe speech difficulties, making it almost impossible to communicate,â Bagchi, the lawyer, said.
Concerned about his condition, Bagchi lodged a written complaint with the local PS and urged the cops to trace the youthâs family.
According to police, repeated attempts were made to question the teenager, but they could not gather any useful information about his identity or address. With no immediate leads, the police, after completing the necessary formalities, handed him over to a voluntary organisation for care and shelter.
Determined to reunite the youth with his family, Bagchi later approached the West Bengal Radio Club (WBRC), a HAMradio organisation, seeking assistance.
The club circulated the teenagerâs photograph and details about his manner of communication through its nationwide network of amateur radio operators. The effort soon yielded results.
âThe boy was identified as Khurshid Alam, a resident of Box village under Sugauli PS. His father, Tarbej Alam, works as a factory worker, while his elder brother, Arshid Alam, is an electrician. Khurshid was a student of the local Dawn Public School before he suddenly went missing 14 months ago,â Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary of WBRC, told TOI.
According to the family sources, Alam, a class XI student, had become severely addicted to playing video games on his mobile. âOver time, he gradually began to lose his normal hearing and speech abilities. One day, while still engrossed in video games, he went missing from our home,â his brother Arshid said.