External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday discovered to her amusement that a “kidnapped” man in Serbia who she tried to help had staged his own abduction and the video sent to her was fake. Hours after she responded to a call for rescuing an Indian allegedly abducted and tortured in Serbia, she tonight said the kidnapping was “stage-managed” and the video “fake”.
Swaraj, known to quickly help Indians in distress in foreign countries, intervened after she was approached by a netizen who tweeted,”@SushmaSwaraj please help my brother his life in big trouble somebody kidnap in Serbia country and ask him to send the money unless we kill him.”
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The video accompanying the tweet showed a shirtless man with his hands tied being beaten up with a baton. She later tweeted, “Vinay Mahajan has been found and is in the safe custody of Serbian authorities.
“Mr Luther – This is because of the agent who sent him there. This agent deserves exemplary punishment. @ProtectorGenGOI,” she said in a series of tweets. She, however, took to twitter late in the night, saying “Rajiv – I have all the facts before me. Your brother was not abducted.
Rajiv – I have all the facts before me. Your brother was not abducted. /1 @rajivsharma103 @IndiaInSerbia
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 23, 2017
He stage managed his own abduction and the video is fake. /2 @rajivsharma103 @IndiaInSerbia
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 23, 2017
However, @Indiainserbia intervened and your brother has been released by Serbian Police. He is returning on 25 March. /3 @rajivsharma103
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 23, 2017
I appreciate @IndiaInSerbia for the prompt response. /4
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 23, 2017
Reacting to a separate complaint of nearly 500 Indian workers being deprived of salaries in Bahrain, she tweeted,”Indian Embassy in Bahrain is seized of this matter and will help them.”