New Delhi: A group of 17 young men from Punjab and Haryana, who were trapped in Libya for six months after being cheated by fake travel agents, returned to India on Sunday night. They were greeted by their families at the Delhi airport, where they broke down in tears of joy and relief.
The men had paid 13 lakhs each to the agents, who promised them jobs in Italy. However, they were taken to Libya via Dubai and Egypt, where they faced brutal conditions and violence. They were held hostage by an armed group in Zwara City, a coastal town in Libya.
The Indian embassy in Tunis intervened to rescue them after their families contacted them on May 26. The embassy worked with the Libyan authorities and informal channels to secure their release from captivity on June 13. They were then kept in Tripoli until their travel documents were arranged by the embassy.
The embassy also provided them with food, medicines, clothes, and tickets for their return to India. The rescue operation was facilitated by Vikramjit Singh Sahney, a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, who appealed to the Libyan authorities and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials in New Delhi.
Sahney shared the news of their safe evacuation on social media platform X, where he also urged the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana and the Punjab police to take action against the culprits who committed this heinous crime. He also posted videos of the emotional reunion of the men with their families at the airport.
