Paradip: A 12-year-old mentally challenged boy, who was found here, has been reunited with his family in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, with the help of his Aadhaar biometric details, a heart-warming achievement for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that is currently drawing flak for alleged data leak, among other things.

The minor boy was spotted loitering on NH-5A on the outskirts of the port township and the Jagatsinghpur district administration handed him over to the child welfare committee.

The committee later rehabilitated him in a children's short-stay home, said Paradip Lock police station inspector Chinmoy Rout.

"We found him to be mentally challenged. He spoke incoherently and we could not ascertain anything from him," said child protection officer Udayanath Swain.

"We published missing reports through newspaper advertisements in accordance with provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act. However, the exercise proved futile," Swain said. The district child welfare committee, as a last resort, knocked on the doors of the UIDAI's district unit to identify the child. The officials found that the child's fingerprints already existed in the Aadhaar database.

From the database, the authorities found out that his name was Rajendra Kumar and his parents, Suresh Kumar and Manju Devi, hailed from Haldipati village in Dhansar thana area of Dhanbad district.

The credentials helped the administration establish a communication with Rajendra's parents.

"We found that the child's parents had come to Paradip in search of a job last year from Dhanbad in Jharkhand," Swain said.

"We communicated with his parents and they came to take him back. The couple said that the child had gone missing during their trip to Paradip. They had also filed a missing person's report with Paradip police,"

Rajendra was handed over to his parents in the presence of the child welfare committee and child welfare department officials here on Wednesday.

District collector Yamini Sadangi, taking note of the poor economic status of the couple, also sanctioned Rs 10,000 from Red Cross funds for their return journey to Jharkhand, Swain added.

Mutilated body

The mutilated body of a man was retrieved from the Damuhanti forest area in Barbil police limits. The deceased has been identified as 35-year-old Lochan Behera. The body has been sent for post-mortem. From the nature of injury found on the body, it is being assumed to be a case of murder.