Sukhen Das, one of the migrants stuck in Azerbaijan.
The two migrant workers from the state who were jailed in Azerbaijan since last month for being “illegal” citizens have been released and returned home on Thursday night.
Sukhen Das (27) and Abdul Hossain (23) were duped by touts, who had taken them to Azerbaijan in January on the pretext of providing them jobs. As the touts fled with their documents and passports, the two migrant workers got arrested in Azerbaijan. They were lodged in a jail since the end of January.
After receiving WhatsApp messages from Sukhen and Abdul, their families had appealed to the Ministry of External Affairs to look into the matter and take steps to bring their sons back to the country. The Indian Express had carried reports of these developments earlier this month.
Sukhen and Abdul arrived in Mumbai on February 19 and then took a train to West Bengal. Other Indians who were similarly jailed for being “illegal” citizens have also returned.
Das, a resident of North 24 Parganas district’s Swarupnagar area, told The Indian Express that he is relieved to be back in the country. “Firstly, we want to thank the media for raising our issue that actually helped in our release. All the three touts, who duped me and other Indians, have been arrested by police in Azerbaijan. The police there were reluctant to listen to our pleas and did not believe that we were duped by touts and not living illegally in their country. After learning about us from media reports, they realised that our story is true. Later, they decided to release us,” Das said.
Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, a non-profit organisation, had helped Sukhen, Abdul and others buy the air tickets to India.
“I had paid Rs 2.50 lakh to one tout who took me there with a promise of giving me a job. He had issued a one-month visa to me and also bought my return ticket. But after going there, the tout cancelled my visa and the ticket. Later, we were kept in a house for days and not given any job. Somehow we came out of the house, but were later arrested by police. We later learned that the touts were arrested,” he added.
Echoing the same, Hossain, a resident of Koytha village in Birbhum district, said, “I cannot describe how happy I am to be back in the country. We have been through a nightmare and those days in the prison were very difficult. We want to thank the media here for sharing our story and helping us getting back to the country.”
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