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"Stranded on the railway station, we called Sonu Sood Saab and he arranged a flight for us," passengers ecstatic after reaching Silchar

The man with a golden heart has successfully sent 180 stranded Assam residents back to their state via Air Asia’s ‘Umeed Ki Udaan’. Sonu Sood, very much a ray of hope for many migrants in various parts of the country came in rescue for 170 Barak Valley residents, who were stranded in Lokamanya Terminus in Mumbai’s Bombay Kurla Complex.

Several lockdowns in India, imposed to combat the deadly virus drove millions to unemployment all across the country. Thousands from Barak Valley and Assam travel to Maharashtra to work as waiters, cleaners and chefs in fast-food joints and cafeterias. They rent a room and stay as tenants close to their workplace.

With the joints being shut, they ran out of money, “We were not getting our salaries and had almost run out of savings. We got Rs 2,000 from the government of Assam but our rent is Rs 5,000 and you need at least 3,000 for food. We were struggling,” says Kabir Ahmed who works in a cafeteria in Pune.

Kabir is not alone, at least 140 other Barak Valley residents found themselves in similar struggles. That is when they booked tickets in Guwahati Express, which departs from LTT in BKC Mumbai for Assam’s Capital. They boarded a train from Pune and when they reached LTT, they got to know their train has unfortunately cancelled.

“Some of us did not have a valid ticket for Guwahati while most did. After we got down at LTT, the station master said we need to maintain Social Distancing and that is why we need to vacate the platform. About 140 of us from all three districts of Barak Valley and 30 from Hojai took shelter under a foot over bridge. When we were at the Railway Station, we called Sonu Sood Saab and he arranged a flight for us,” said a Hailakandi resident who deboarded the Air Asia aircraft that landed in Kumbhirgram Airport earlier today.

When they called film star Sonu Sood, he listened to their concerns and said, “You all are hungry, first let’s get some food.” A passenger informs, “Within an hour Sonu Sood Saab sent 30 boxes of food, enough for all of us. Then came the buses which took us to a school turned to a makeshift dormitory. We stayed there for five days while he and his team relentlessly tried to put us on a train or a bus,” says a Karimganj resident.

“All of them were scared, I assured them not to worry and that everything will be fine. They reached out to me on social media and then I gave them my number. I found out that they are stranded under a bridge and that is when we immediately arranged a stay for them. They are all good people and I thought it is our responsibility to help them reach home safely,” asserts award-winning actor Sonu Sood while talking to Barak Bulletin.

“On the fourth day, we got the news that he has arranged an aircraft for us and we will be at our home. Most of us were in tears, all we wanted to do is reach home,” adds a passenger who returned home.

Sonu Sood himself went to the Mumbai airport to see off the 180 stranded Assam residents. All of them reached Silchar safely and are now in the quarantine centres in respective districts.

Meanwhile, 134 of the 180 passengers happened to be from Hailakandi while 40 were from Hojai and three each from Cachar and Karimganj.

“We were aware that an aircraft is flying down from Mumbai but we did not have an exact idea about the number of people from each district. There are kids and ladies too. So we have arranged a facility in Lala where they will be placed under quarantine and the two families consisting of seven people will be put up in a different location,” informs Hailakandi DC, Megha Nidhi Dahal.

All the passengers are now headed towards their respective quarantine centres.

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