Awaiting release of 69 Indians from Russian Army; CBI has evidence against 10 human traffickers, Jaishankar says in Lok Sabha

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, August 9  

As many as 69 Indian nationals still await release from the Russian Army while the Central Bureau of Investigation has found “sufficient evidence” against 10 human traffickers who facilitated sending of Indian youth to Russia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told Lok Sabha during Question Hour on Friday.

Replying to a question by Adoor Prakash, MP from Kerala, Jaishankar said, “We had a total of 91 cases of Indian nationals who were recruited into the Russian Army. Unfortunately, eight have died, another 14 have returned with our assistance and 69 await their release from Russian Army.”

Jaishankar said, “We take this issue very seriously. I have raised the matter with the Russian Foreign Minister. PM Narendra Modi raised it with Russian President Vladimir Putin and got an assurance that any Indian national in service of Russian Army would be released.”

The minister said: “Russian authorities maintain that these Indians entered into a contract for service with Russian Army. We don’t subscribe to that. In many cases, there are reasons to believe that our nationals were misled as they were told that they were going for some other job but were taken to the Russian Army.”

To a supplementary question asked by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on the action taken, Jaishankar said, “We should not jump the gun. It’s important to believe the Russian government.”

Earlier, replying to Adoor Prakash, Jaishankar said the CBI had registered criminal cases against 19 individuals and entities. The 14 people who returned have been examined, said the minister, adding, “Sufficient evidence has emerged against 10 human traffickers whose identities we know. Two accused were arrested in April, two in May, and they are in judicial custody,” he added.

The cases of trafficking in Russia are being probed by the CBI, said the minister.

On getting back the mortal remains of those who died in Russia, the minister said of the eight people who died, mortal remains of four have been sent to India. In four other cases, one case of Punjab and another of Haryana, the DNA samples of families have been sent and further details are awaited.