New Delhi: Seventeen Indian youths, who were released from Tripoli Jail in Libya recently, arrived in Delhi on Sunday night. The group was struck in Libya for months after falling victim to unscrupulous travel agents who duped them on the pretext of sending them to Italy for lucrative jobs.
The youths, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, were stranded in Libya for the past six months under the captivity of the local mafia.
In a video shared by PTI, the men can be seen sobbing embracing their family members soon after they landed in Delhi.
Vikramjit Singh Sahney, a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Punjab, who reportedly played a significant role in their release, said that these youths paid lakhs of rupees to unscrupulous travel agents who promised them lucrative jobs in Italy.
"With blessings of Akalpurakh Waheguru jee we spearheaded successful evacuation of 17 youth of Punjab & Harayana from gallows of death in Libya where unscruplous agents duped them after taking 13 Lakh each," he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Earlier in a statement, Sahney had said, "All of them left India for Italy in February 2023 via Dubai and Egypt. After a few days, they landed in Libya and kept in Zuwara City, where they were being deprived of basic amenities like food and water and faced physical assault," reported Hindustan Times.
Sahney, upon learning about these youths in May this year, contacted the Indian embassy in Tunisia and initiated the legal process for their rescue.
“My office was in constant touch with these boys and their families. Initially, our major concern was to take them out from the captivity of the local mafia,” he added, according to Hindustan Times.