18 Indian nationals rescued from Libya land in New Delhi
A group of 18 Indian nationals, who were stranded for several weeks in Libya’s Benghazi safely landed in New Delhi on Wednesday morning, officials confirmed.
The group arrived in a Turkish Airlines flight at the IGI Airport in New Delhi in the wee hours today, an official told The Tribune.
The Indian embassy in Libya has successfully facilitated the return of 18 Indian nationals who had been stranded in Benghazi for several weeks.
The Indian nationals were lured by fake recruitment agents under the pretext of lucrative job opportunities by a contractor, said to be a Libyan national. They came in contact with the contractor in Dubai and reached Libya without any visa, said people familiar with the case.
"Since they had no visa, we secured their release through exit permit mechanism, which took some time. We were assisted by the Libyan authorities all along. During that period, our Embassy in Libya took care of them and fulfilled all their basic daily requirements at the Embassy,” said an official.
All the 18 rescued Indian nationals are said to be workers, hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Their ordeal began after the group started working at the Libyan Cement Company’s Benghazi plant in September last year, the people familiar with the matter told The Tribune.
They had some argument with the contractor at the cement plant over wages. The workers alleged that they were mistreated following their protest while their dues were also withheld. They also alleged that they were being beaten and kept under prison-type conditions after their protest, said the sources.