MADURAI: Much to the surprise of his family, a 72-year-old retired Army Major, who went missing from his native Punjab 13 years ago, has been reunited after being traced to Vijayanarayanam in Tirunelveli district.

The septuagenarian was found suspiciously roaming near Vijayanarayanam on September 17. He had no identity card and looked like one with dementia due to ageing.

Vijayanarayanam police then picked him up and was accommodated in a private orphanage near Nanguneri.

He was identified as S Gandharv Singh (72), Sunder Nagar, Gurdaspur, Punjab. Thereafter, a team led by Nanguneri ASP Prasanna Kumar made painstaking efforts to unearth details about his family, a statement said on Sunday.

Eventually, with the aid of Punjab police, details of Gandharv Singh were ascertained. He had gone missing in 2011.

With sustained efforts, the team contacted his family and on Saturday, his sons Anil Singh and Sunil Singh came to Nanguneri.

Tirunelveli SP N Silambarasan applauded the efforts of the Vijayanarayanam Inspector Nagakumari and the team to reunite the elderly person with his family after 13 years.