Amrit Kujur of Andaman island, who was washed ashore the Khirisahi village along the Chilika coast on October 22 last after spending 28 days in sea was brought in Puri in Odisha on October 27 for medical examination.
The doctors found him fit to travel to his native place after a thorough examination. The district administration has put him in a shelter home and is taking care of him.
The villagers of Khirasahi provided him food, and clothes after they found him lying on the shore with his damaged boat .
Kujur spoke to his wife Salma in Sahid dwip of Andaman and informed her about his presence in Khirisahi village in Puri, and unfortunate death of his colleague Ranjan Biswas due to starvation. His wife informed him that she had filed a missing complaint with the Andaman police. Kujur said his wife had booked an Air ticket for him to fly to Andaman but he has not received it so far.
The parents of deceased Ranjan also talked to him over mobile phone, he said. Describing it as his fourth encounter with death, Kujur vowed not to venture into the sea again.
A devoted Christian Kujur said after his boat was hit by cyclone he prayed for his survival and left everything on the mercy of almighty. He expressed his gratitude to villagers of Khirisahi who gave him food, water, cloth besides shelter till police reached the village.
Kujur said they were employees of Seth C Pandiyan of Sahid Dwip. They operate from a boat shop and sell consumer goods to people in other islands. They also sell items like rice, vegetable edible oil and spices to ships anchored in deep sea.
This time besides goods worth Rs five lakh a new scooty was also in their boat. They threw the goods into the sea to lighten the boat after the first storm hit their boat while they were returning from Port Blair.
The storm pushed their boat to a naval base in the coast of Myanmar. A second severe storm hit them while they began journey from Myanmar after refuelling.
The storm drove the anchor-less boat in the deep sea, where it remained for 28 days with no fuel and drinking water. His colleague Ranjan died of starvation. Kujur threw his body into the sea as it started decomposing after a few days.
Though he was sure that the first storm hit them in August 28 he could not say when the second storm hit the boat. But he said he was afloat in sea for 28 days and survived only on sea water.
Many expressed doubt over his statement stating that it was not possible for a man to survive for so long without food.
Kolaraju Reddy, a senior fisherman of Puri Pentkota sea fisherman village said Amrit might have consumed some dry food left in the boat and sea water for survival.
