Supreme Court directs MEA to trace Indian seafarer missing after Black Sea drone attack
The 22-year-old seafarer went missing after a merchant vessel carrying Indian crew members came under attack near Ukraine’s Odessa port
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to use diplomatic channels to trace a seafarer missing after his cargo ship was hit by drones on July 25 in the Black Sea.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to seek instructions from the Indian Embassies in Ukraine and Romania and get the latest information on the whereabouts of Deepak Kumar Gupta, who was onboard cargo ship MV AGN Ragnar hit by drones.
Awaiting the MEA’s update, the Bench posted a petition filed by Sandeep Kumar Gupta, elder brother of the missing seafarer, for further hearing on Friday.
The 22-year-old seafarer went missing after a merchant vessel carrying Indian crew members came under attack near Ukraine’s Odessa port.
Deepak Gupta, a resident of Bharataul village in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, was working as a crew member aboard the merchant vessel MV AGN Ragnar. His family originally hails from Siwan district in Bihar but has been residing in Bharataul village in Bareilly for several years.
Sandeep has sought directions to the MEA to coordinate with Indian embassies in Ukraine and Romania to undertake search and rescue operations to find out his brother. He filed the petition after his family’s persistent requests to the Centre and Indian embassies in the two countries failed to evoke any response.
He contended that the family wrote to the MEA and the Indian embassies in the two countries between July 26 and July 30 but the representations did not evoke any response or any positive assurance.
