Member of Parliament from Gujarat’s Anand, Mitesh Patel on Tuesday released a video statement informing that a Gujarat couple was kidnapped and held hostage in Azerbaijan, but was later rescued with the help of the foreign ministry. The couple was on their way to the US when abductors kidnapped them, demanding ransom for their release.
Hailing the timely efforts of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Mitesh said that 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, Dipika Patel, was on their way to the US when they were kidnapped with the help of agents who had promised them safe passage to America, though illegally. The kidnappers had threatened to kill the couple if the ransom was not paid.
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The BJP MP said that the parents of the duo reached him and told him that Dhruv and Dipika were kidnapped in Azerbaijan. The family said “they received a video call in which people (kidnappers) from Azerbaijan demanded ransom for their release,” Mitesh said in the video.
Following this, the MP met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who 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 kidnapped persons were rescued and brought to the Embassy in Baku, the capital of the country in the South Caucasus region, the minister informed.
In the video, the Anand MP requested youth of Gujarat not approach such agents to go abroad, but rather work here. “You will get the best opportunities here (in Gujarat),” the Lok Sabha MP reportedly said.
He thanked the MEA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the government’s efforts in rescuing the couple and said that the government worked very hard to bring them back alive.
The Ministry of External Affairs often cautions citizens against agents who promise entry through illegal means or who lure people on false job promises. Last year, following reports on Indian citizens being abducted in Iran, the ministry released an advisory cautioning strict vigilance regarding job offers. In July last year, three Indians who were working in a factory in Mali were abducted.
