Representative image of kidnapping.
Credit: iStock Photo
An Indian national has been held captive in Sudan by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia after he was kidnapped from Al Fasir, a city 1,000 km away from Khartoum.
In a video by NDTV Adarsh Behera, 36, from Odisha's Jagatsinghpur, can be seen sitting between the RSF soldiers. In the video, one of the soldiers asked Behera, "Do you know Shah Rukh Khan?"
Another soldier then prompts him to say, "Dagalo good", referring to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of RSF.
Behera's family in conversation with NDTV informed that he has been working in Sudan since 2022 at a company named Sukarati Plastic Factory.
In a video shared with the publication by his family, Behera requested help from the government of Odisha. "I am here in Al Fashir where the situation is very bad. I have been living here for two years with great difficulty. My family and children are very worried. I request the state (Odisha) government to help me," he said in a video, as reported by the publication.
Sudan's Ambassador to India Mohammed Abdalla Ali Eltom said that he is coordinating closely with Sudanese authorities and Ministry of External Affairs to secure the release of Behera abducted by RSF in the war-torn Al Fashir city.
"We have been in close contact with India's Ministry of External Affairs ever since reports emerged about the Indian national who was captured. Even before that, during the siege of one of the Sudanese cities, the Ministry had reached out to us about another Indian citizen there, who endured very difficult conditions during those 500 days," Eltom said.
"We are coordinating closely with both the Sudanese authorities and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to ensure their safety and secure their release," he said.
Eltom described the situation as "very unpredictable", saying, "We kind of know what we need to do. And we have seen what they are capable of doing. We hope that he will be treated well. And we hope that we can see him coming back safely soon."
The RSF recently captured Al Fashir, triggering fresh violence and mass displacement in North Darfur.
It took control of the western Darfur region last week, after ousting the Sudanese Army from the city that was besieged for 18 months.
(With PTI inputs)