Gajanand family in celebratory mode

The family members of Gajanand are already celebrating his home coming. After the news of his release broke, relatives have started thronging at Gajanand's house situated in Brahampuri area of old city in Jaipur.

"We are eagerly waiting for our father to return. And we hope that this independence he is with us. We were informed by Jaipur MP Ramcharan Bohra who confirmed that he would be released on August 13 (Monday)", Gajanand's son Mukesh told DH.

Sharing details of his father's warm welcome in Jaipur, Mukesh added, "All of us are excited to see him after 36 years. We are not sure how he will respond to us. When he went missing, he was a young. But today he is a grandfather. He will meeting the next two generations upon his arrival".

Gajanand's wife Makhani Devi, who is now 70-years old, is busy cooking delicacies and sweets along with her daughter in law. She told DH, "My husband was a labourer and left home without informing anybody. Since then we have been waiting for his arrival. At some point of time we even lost the hope of his return but in May this year, a cop approached for the verification of nationality of Gajananad and told us that he is in a Pakistani jail". After her husband's disappearance, Makhani Devi worked as a peon in a private hospital and raised her two sons.

The Ministry of External Affairs had sent a query to the state intelligence to confirm the nationality and whereabouts of Sharma on May 1. The CID then forwarded the query to Samod police and found that Sharma’s family had left the Samod village and moved to Jaipur’s Brahampuri area. And police finally confirmed Gajanand’s presence in the Pakistan jail.

On August 9, Gajanand’s family met Union Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh on Thursday, with BJP MP from Jaipur Ramcharan Bohra and Hawamahal MLA Surendra Pareek in New Delhi. They were informed that he will be released on Monday.