KALABURAGI: It has come to light that three youths among a group of men from India who went to Russia to work as security guards, are from Kalaburagi. They went to Russia through agents, and have been allegedly forced into a private army, and sent to the Russia-Ukraine border.
Syed Nawaz Ali, head constable at Madbool police station in Kalaburagi district, whose son is among the nine youths, has written a letter to Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Fouzia Tarannum and Kalaburagi district minister Priyank Kharge, requesting them to take action and bring his son and his friends back to India.
Meanwhile, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, requesting urgent action and highlighting the grave situation concerning the safety of Indians.
Three youths from Kalaburagi and one from Telangana are in deep distress after they were lured with the promise of employment as security guards and lucrative salaries, but were forcibly thrust into combat roles by a private military company on the frontline of the Russia-Ukraine war, he wrote. The lives of the youngsters are in imminent danger and need immediate intervention, he added, and requested Jaishankar to take decisive action.
In his letter, Nawaz Ali stated that his son, Syed Ilyas Hussaini, a native of Narona, Aland taluk, and his friends Abdul Nayeem, Mohammed Sufiyan and Mohammed Sameer Ahmed were working at Dubai Airport earlier. They saw an advertisement for posts of security guard in Russia on YouTube. The advertisement said the recruits would be posted in a Russian city and would get a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month.
Nawaz Ali said his son and the others met the chief agent Bbab Wogla and other agents Sufiyan, Moin and Pooja. They flew to Russia via Chennai, on December 18, 2023, by an Air Arabia flight.
Ali added that the four men were deputed in a war zone on the Russia-Ukraine border and requested the government to bring his son and his friends back to India, and punish the agents.
Ali showed a video clipping in which his son, dressed in military fatigues, says they were forcibly employed in the Army. The video also showed two of his friends saying they have no idea where their fourth friend is. Ilyas Hussaini also points to a forest area where he and his friends have been working, and calls it a “danger zone”.
When contacted, DC Fouzia Tarannum said she has informed the Embassy, and is awaiting a response.