Noida, Sep 6 (PTI) IAS officer and Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Suhas L Yathiraj returned home to a hero's welcome on Monday after a historic show at the Tokyo Paralympics where he clinched a silver medal in badminton for India.

Yathiraj landed along with the Indian contingent at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi where supporters, including officials of his administration, and family members awaited with garlands, Tricolours, and congratulatory placards for him.

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The 38-year-old bureaucrat, the first IAS officer to have not only participated but also won a medal at the Paralympics, was in a decked-up open jeep along with his wife Ritu Suhas on their way to Noida from the airport.

“I thank everyone. This medal belongs to every young person and every citizen of the country. It's God's grace that I could win it. I do not have any more words to express my happiness right now," he told reporters, amid the beating of dhols and people thronging his vehicle for selfies.

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In a message to PTI, his wife, said, "He is overwhelmed and humbled at the grand welcome he got. He thanks everyone for sparing their time and for their affection."

In the sea of crowd according Yathraj welcome at the airport were his Noida administration's senior officials including Sub-divisional magistrate (Sadar) Prasun Dwivedi and Chief Development Officer Anil Singh and staffer Rakesh Kumar.

"Preparations are underway to at the Gautam Buddh Nagar Collectorate also to felicitate Suhas sir in the coming days. Besides our administration officials, colleagues from the police department, lawyers' association, among others are waiting to meet him after his historic performance in Tokyo," SDM Prasun Dwivedi said.

“It's going to be some very busy time for him in the coming days and rightly so. We are waiting for him to resume charge as the district magistrate," the PCS officer added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)