Information cells on U.S. Keralites

By Our Special Correspondent

KOZHIKODE, SEPT. 14. Special services have been set up at the Secretariat and the Kerala House in New Delhi to provide information about Keralites in the terrorist-targets in the United States.

The Minister for Information and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. M.M. Hassan, told presspersons here today that these services set up by Norka would be available round the clock.

These cells are being manned by teams of officials headed by Mr. Chandran, Resident Commissioner of Kerala House in New Delhi, and Mr. Jiji Thomason, Secretary, Norka, at the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram.

Several enquiries have already been answered. As many as 137 enquiries were received at the Secretariat. In 82 cases the individuals concerned were found to be safe. In 51 cases about which enquiries were made at the Kerala House, 24 persons were found to be safe.

According to the Indian Consulate in New York, 38 Indians were in hospitals with injuries suffered in terrorist attacks. The Malayali named Rajiv Nair figures in the list.

A few more Malayali names are found in another list released by the Indian Embassy in Washington. These are P.M, Paulose, Mathew John, S.K. Nair, Jacob John and Y. Abraham. The Indian Consulate in Washington has opened a website www.indiacgny.org-list hospital.stml.

Several Keralites in the U.S. have been contacted for information about the fate of Keralites in the cities struck by terrorists. The Government also made enquiries about the fate of software engineer Vinod Kumar who was employed in a firm operating in the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center. According to information given by his wife, Vinod Kumar attended a call on mobile telephone. But his whereabouts are not yet known.

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Section  : Southern States
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