Five Indian seafarers, who were arrested in Iran in February last year, were released after 403 days on March 9, 2021. However, they are yet to return to India as the Iranian authorities have not returned their documents till now.
In a video message, all the five men appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their repatriation.
One of the men, Aniket, could be seen in the video saying: “Respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are making this video for our repatriation. We are recording this video from Chabahar which is situated in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan. This is the same Chabahar where India is building a port worth $200 million.”
“We were languishing in jail here for 400 days on false charges trumped-up by our shipowners and agents. We are innocent yet have suffered in prison. We finally have been released on March 9, 2021. Despite being proven not guilty, Iranian officials have neither returned our passports nor have they given us our identification documents,” Aniket said.
WHAT’S THE CASE?
The five Indian youth seafarers are Aniket Yenpure (Mumbai, Maharashtra), Mandar Worlikar (Mumbai, Maharashtra), Naveen Singh (Bageshwar, Uttarakhand), Pranav Kumar (Saran, Bihar) and Thamizhselvan Rengsamy (Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu).
They were arrested, along with the Vessel “Artin 10” (IMO No. 8921561), from the Strait of Hormoz by the Iranian authorities on February 20, 2020, as part of the criminal conspiracy of smuggling narcotics.
They were kept in judicial custody at Chabahar Central Jail for 403 days without any charges till the investigation was completed.
On March 8, 2021, a local court in Chabahar pronounced them innocent and ordered their immediate release.
They were released the next day, however, they have been roaming on the streets there as they were not handed back their passports and identity documents including CDC by local authorities. They were also directed not to leave the country.
Aniket said, “We are being treated like animals, running from pillar to post. We are penniless. We have nothing. We have been seeking help to even reach out to others. Our lives are in danger. Why isn’t our mission informed of our status? We have no means to earn money since we have no documents.”
FORM SEEKS PM MODI’S HELP
Meanwhile, an organisation, the Indian World Forum, wrote a letter seeking PM Modi’s intervention in the matter.
Puneet Singh, president of the Indian World Forum, has been in touch with the five seafarers and their families.
In his letter, he has mentioned details of the five people, contacts of their families and the details of the agents who hired them.
The forum has urged PM Modi to “take up the said matter with the highest authorities and direct Indian missions in Iran to provide appropriate assistance to the sufferers”.
‘AGENTS TRAP US’
“The forum also urged the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Shipping to take stringent punitive action against the Recruitment and Services Placement Agents and all other accused involved in this ordeal,” the press release said.
Meanwhile, Aniket, in his video, further said, “Some Indian agents trap us and send innocent people like us to Iran where we are suffering. Strict action should be taken against such unscrupulous agents. Please take this up with the Iranian government and instruct the Indian embassy to take up the matter of our repatriation.”
While the men were released, they don’t have the documents, means or financial support to find their way back to India.
Source : India Today
