It was an emotional moment for the Menon family at Sukma, nearly 450 km from here, when the local district collector Alex Paul Menon reunited with his pregnant wife Asha after spending 13 days in Maoist custody.
Mr Menon, who flew to Sukma by a chopper from Chintalnar CRPF base where he spent the night after he was released by Maoists on Thursday evening, proceeded to his official bungalow from the Sukma helipad in an official car, with sea of people greeting him all the way.
When he pushed himself through the crowd of his admirers to enter his house, his brother first greeted him with a hug.
Mr Menon appeared moved by the love and affection showered on him by the Sukma people as he unsuccessfully tried to hold his tears back. He later addressed them at the gate of his residence, profusely thanking them for supporting him and his family members at this hour of crisis. “I am fine now. I love you all. Please return to your homes and take rest now,” Mr Menon was seen making an emotional appeal to them.
Later, his wife and mother-in-law greeted him at the entrance of his house.
His mother-in-law was seen performing “arti”, a Tamil ritual welcoming him home, to him and his wife before he entered the house after 14 days.
He also assured the waiting mediapersons to address them in a press conference in 15-20 minutes. But later the local SDM S.K. Vaid announced cancellation of the scheduled news conference citing his ill health.