Anand MP from Gujarat, Mitesh Patel released a video statement on Tuesday saying that the Gujarati couple was abducted and held hostage in Azerbaijan, but was later rescued with the help of the Ministry of External Affairs. The couple is en route to the United States when kidnappers abduct them, demanding a ransom for their release.
BJP Minister Mitesh Patel posted video statement on X account (@Miteshbhaibjp/X)Appreciating the timely efforts of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Mitesh said the couple was released and was safe. The video statement was posted on the minister’s X account.
The couple, identified as Dhruv Patel and his wife Deepika Patel, were on their way to the US when they were kidnapped with the help of agents who promised them safe passage to America, albeit illegally. The kidnappers threatened to kill the couple if they did not pay the ransom.
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The BJP MP said that the parents of the duo reached out to him and said that Dhruv and Deepika were kidnapped in Azerbaijan. The family said, “They received a video call where people from Azerbaijan (kidnappers) demanded a ransom for their release,” Mitesh said in the video.
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After that, the MP met the Foreign Minister S JaishankarHe was in Delhi for the ongoing Parliament session on Monday.
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The MEA contacted the Indian embassy in Azerbaijan and within 24 hours, both the abductees were rescued and brought to the embassy in the country’s capital Baku in the South Caucasus region, the minister said.
In the video, Anand MP requested the youth of Gujarat not to approach such agents to go abroad, but work here. “You will get the best opportunity here (in Gujarat),” the Lok Sabha MP is reported to have said.
He thanked the MEA and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the government’s efforts to rescue the couple and said that the government was working hard to bring them back alive.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs often warns citizens against agents who promise entry through illegal means or who lure people with false promises of work. Last year, following reports of kidnapping of Indian nationals in Iran, the ministry issued an advisory with strict caution about job offers. In July last year, three Indians working in a factory were kidnapped in Mali.
