Indian nationals Shyamsunder Agarwal and Deepak Reheja, who were kidnapped and tortured by Chinese traders, are still stuck in China, struggling in a web of bureaucracy. Speaking from China, they told this newspaper that despite total compliance with the Indian consulate, their return home is being delayed for no reason and plan to go on a hungerstrike from Monday.
Mr Agarwal, a Mumbai native and Mr Raheja, who is from Hyderabad, were held hostage by a group of angry Chinese traders after the duo’s employer went missing with the traders’ money. After the Indian consulate intervened, the case went to court but matters took a turn for worse when consulate representative S. Balakrishnan was assaulted outside the court, leading to more international outrage.
Both the Indians are currently in a hotel in Shanghai, hoping everyday that they will be taken home. “We were given around `800 in Renminbi for daily expenses and the money is running out fast. We make daily trips to the consulate, but are told that we will be sent home only after due formalities are complete. We have provided all the documents that we were asked to submit and fail to understand what is taking so much time now,” said Mr Agarwal.
Mr Raheja added, “We receive threats from the Chinese traders everyday, who tell us that would be no big thing for them to kidnap us from here and kill us. We have not even been provided with security, in spite of informing the consulate about the threats. We spend the entire day cooped up in this hotel, fearing for out lives. It has been a year since we saw our families.”
Meanwhile, Mr Agarwal’s wife Jyoti is running from pillar to post in Mumbai with no results either.