In a video shot clandestinely, G Chanti Kumar a native of East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh alleges that he is being held captive in Zambia by his employer, Manoj Kumar P. Patel. In a cry for help asking to be rescued, he says in the video, “He is harassing me. Threatening to kill me. He has locked me up and has put me in immense trouble. Though I was bleeding for four days, they did not take me to hospital. The other day he took me to a desert which is 200 km asking me to work there. They hired me for operating. I am unable to work here, please rescue me and bring me back home.”
Ganti Chanti Babu of West Godavari appeals Dr S Jaishanker EAM to rescue him from Zambia as he is being tortured & kept in solitary confinement, he was sent as a operator to operate drilling machine but being asked to repair machines which he doesn't know. /2 pic.twitter.com/SCkUsJGAMT
— Amjed Ullah Khan MBT (@amjedmbt) October 30, 2019
36-year-old Chanti, a core drill operator earlier this month on October 6, went to Zambia. He was hired for drilling by a person identified as Manoj Kumar P Patel. He was paid Rs 1 lakh upfront for the work. According to Chanti’s wife, G Rani, the work contract was allegedly for just two months for which Chanti would be paid Rs 1.50 lakh. However, in Zambia, the work conditions were extremely stressful, and Chanti’s health deteriorated. “Though he started bleeding profusely from his nose and mouth due to the extreme weather conditions. But they did not take him to hospital. They were indifferent. The food too was horrible. When he decided to leave for India, they forcefully detained him,” alleges an anxious Rani. She claims that apart from Chanti’s work as a core driller, his employers forced him to other work like repairing the hydraulic machines, which was not part of the job description. “The contract was for two months. But now the work has been halted due to some technical problem with the drilling equipment. Citing this as a reason how can they prevent him leaving Zambia and for how long will he be held up there?” she questions.
She even claimed that when her husband made an attempt to leave the work, they allegedly fired at him to threaten him.
On October 29, Rani wrote a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar pleading to rescue her husband.
Rani said that on October 26, Chanti made another attempt to escape from their detention while he was being taken to hospital as he continued bleeding. “I took a loan of Rs 75,000 and arranged for a flight ticket, but they caught him at the airport and seized his passport.”
Following this, Rani approached political leader Amjed Ullah Khan from MBT, who has been making efforts to bring back Chanti.
Meanwhile, the MEA has responded on Twitter stating that following up the case.
Our Mission will look into the matter. Meanwhile, we suggest you to register a case on https://t.co/gbJVEYX15N regarding this. It will be taken up by the Embassy and can be tracked on the Madad portal.
— MEA MADAD -A Ray of Hope (@meaMADAD) October 30, 2019