It was at 1.30 a.m on Wednesday, when a group of girls, who were stuck on the Kerala-Karnataka border at Tholpetty in the late hours after the state lockdown was announced, decided to call Kerala Chief Minister.

The incident happened on Tuesday night when a group comprising of 13 girls took a tempo from Hyderabad at 7 p.m to reach their hometown in Kerala. Though the driver assured to drop them safely to Kerala, he changed his mind halfway and said that he could only transport them till Muthanga check post, Kerala border.

As it was not safe to get down in the forest region at midnight, they requested the driver to go to Tholpetty. Meanwhile, they tried to reach out to several officials for help. It was already 1 a.m and as nothing worked out, as a last resort they decided to call Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. One of the girls from the group, M R Athira, a staff of Hyderabad Tata Consultancy Service, soon rang to CM, within the second ring itself the call was picked by none other than Pinarayi himself. He calmly listened to their issue, gave them directions and pacified them and also resolved in no time.

He told Athira to call Wayanad collector and SP and also gave their phone numbers. He also assured that he will direct the collector and SP to do the needful. An alternate facility to continue the journey was arranged by the time they reached Tholpetty and the group reached their houses safely by Wednesday morning. Athira said that the Chief Minister spoke in a very caring way and boosted their confidence.