Kashmiri shawl sellers stuck in Calcutta through the lockdown are clueless about how they will return home even if train services resume.

Many like Arif Ahmad Lone and Mohammad Umar, from Budgam district of Kashmir, do not have any money left with them. And they don’t expect any money either because many customers have not cleared their dues, citing the lockdown.

The youths spent whatever savinLeft in the lurch, some of the youths are seeking help from an NGO to be able to set foot in Kashmir.gs they had in booking air tickets on March 23, in a desperate bid to return home following the cancellation of train services. But flights got cancelled, too, and they are yet to get any refund.

Left in the lurch, some of the youths are seeking help from an NGO to be able to set foot in Kashmir.

Arif and Umar are among the group of 25 youths from Kashmir who had come to the city at the onset of winter last year.

An MSc in mathematics, Arif said they had found themselves cash-strapped because customers spread across south Calcutta were not paying them. “My customers owe me Rs 60,000. They are not paying up citing the lockdown,” said Arif, who stays in a rented flat with a group of four in Baghajatin.

On March 23, five of them had booked tickets for a flight on March 27. Each ticket cost Rs 29,112.

“Then the airline said air traffic has been suspended from March 25 because of the pandemic. When we sought refund, they said the amount would be adjusted when we would make fresh bookings till February 28, 2021,” Lone told Metro.

Each had earlier booked a train ticket from Howrah for a journey up to Delhi by the Himgiri Express, spending Rs 915. Reaching Delhi on March 24, they were to take a connecting train to Jammu.

“The railways have said they would refund the booking amount later,” said Umar.

The railways have decided to run fully AC trains from Tuesday. The two-phased journey would cost them Rs 4,000 on an average, said Arif.

The traders have survived so long because an organisation called “Humans of Patuli” was delivering essentials to them. Some of them have again approached the organisation for helping them arrange the train fare.

Dwaipayan Banerjee, the convener of the platform, said they had raised Rs 29,000 and handed over the money to them.