After drifting in the Bay of Bengal for 28 days, a castaway finally reached the shores of Chilika.
The castway, Amrit Kujur (42), had reportedly set out to sell grocery on his boat with another person on August 28. The duo ran into a storm and were forced to throw their goods worth Rs 5 lakh to reduce the weight. The boat drifted away to Myanmar and they reached a naval port there. Navy officers helped them fill 260 litres of fuel and they set sail for Andaman.
But that wasn’t the end of their troubles. They met another storm and had to anchor the boat midway. But the wind was so strong that it snapped the rope and the boat drifted away. Thankfully, the boat didn’t capsize. They soon ran out of fuel, food and drinking water.
Amrit’s companion died within a few days and he was forced to throw the decomposing body into the sea. On his part, Amrit survived by drinking sea water.
His boat reached Khirisahi village in Chilika and turned turtle. The villagers rescued him and informed police.