Four Indians scammed into joining Russian army return home
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New Delhi: Four Indian citizens, who were fraudulently recruited into a private Russian army and forced to fight in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, have returned home with distressing accounts of their time in Russia. The Times of India reported that the men arrived back in India on Friday.
The four men, including Mohammad Sufiyan from Telangana and three others from Karnataka, were among approximately 60 young Indians who fell victim to a job scam. They had been lured to Russia with promises of work as security personnel or helpers, only to find themselves drafted into the Russian armed forces upon their arrival in December 2023.
Sufiyan, who had released a video seven months ago pleading for help, described the brutal conditions they faced. "We were treated like slaves," he told TOI. "We were woken up at 6 a.m. every day and forced to work for 15 hours straight, with little to no rest. The conditions were inhuman, and we had to survive on meagre rations." The men were tasked with digging trenches and operating military equipment, including assault rifles and explosives, with minimal training.
Syed Ilias Hussaini from Karnataka, another of the rescued men, said that fear and uncertainty dominated their lives in Russia, where they were cut off from their families and unsure if they would survive. "Our phones were confiscated, and we didn’t know when we’d return or when we could speak to our families again," he said. Hussaini added that despite returning home, the trauma of their experiences continues to haunt them.
The ordeal took a deadly turn for one of their friends, Hamil, from Gujarat, who was killed in a drone attack. His death, Sufiyan said, was a turning point that prompted the men to alert their families about their dire situation. The families reached out to India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who facilitated the men's rescue.
Many others remain stranded in Russia, awaiting help to return home while still being forced to serve in the war.
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Birsa Munda's great-grandson, injured in road accident, dies of cardiovascular failure in Ranchi
Ranchi (PTI): Tribal icon Birsa Munda's great-grandson Mangal Munda, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital here after being injured in a road accident, died of "cardiovascular failure" on Friday, an official of the health facility said.
He was 45.
Mangal Munda breathed his last at 12.30 am at the state's apex health facility - Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences.
Munda sustained severe head injuries after he fell from the roof of a passenger vehicle in Jharkhand's Khunti district on November 25.
"Birsa Munda's kin Mangal Munda died of cardiovascular failure around 12.30 am. He was on a ventilator after being critically injured. We tried our best to save him but failed," RIMS Medical Superintendent Dr Hiren Birua told PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, Union Health Minister JP Nadda and the Jharkhand Chief Minister's office were in touch with the RIMS authorities in connection with Munda's treatment.
