Two Indians trying to illegally immigrate to the US were kidnapped in Azerbaijan and tortured while on a live-stream with their family members as their captors demanded ransom. The two individuals, 22-year-old Dhruv Patel and 32-year-old Deepika Patel, were also threatened with having their organs removed and trafficked before they were ultimately rescued by Indian authorities.
The story was reported by India Today on Thursday.
Dhruv Patel and Deepika Patel (unclear if they are related) were traveling on a so-called ‘donkey route’, a term used to describe the journey illegal immigrants take from South Asia to the US.
The two departed from their native region of Gujarat and sought the help of an ‘agent’ based in Mumbai, who charged a total of around $55,000 to help facilitate the journey.
The two then flew to Baku on the Mumbai agent’s command, where they were met with another agent — identified only as Pawan — who instructed them to turn off their phones and asked for more money to continue their journey.
When the two refused, they were kidnapped and held in a basement. Dhruv was then beaten and tortured while his captors live-streamed the assault to his family. The kidnappers demanded ransom from Dhruv and Deepika’s families, threatening that they would remove their kidneys and sell them if it was not paid.
The families managed to pool together more than $70,000 and sent the captors half of the sum via cryptocurrency, but they still refused to release them.
Following this, the families turned to their elected officials, who in turn raised the issue with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
India Today wrote that ‘diplomatic pressure’ was applied to the Azerbaijani government, and ultimately, a ‘daring’ rescue operation successfully recovered Dhruv and Deepika and brought them to the Indian Embassy in Baku, where they remain, awaiting the proper legal channels to return to India.
The outlet added that Indian authorities are investigating the criminal network they believe responsible for the kidnapping.
Nate Ostiller
