On Friday, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter to express his concern over the three men from Karnataka who have been stranded in Mozambique due to visa issues, and even urged Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to oversee their release soon. Responding to the MP’s tweet, Sushma Swaraj tweeted, “Shashi ji - I am aware of this case. Indian High Commission in Mozambique is doing their best.”
The three men, Madhuchandra Jailor, Saiju Papchaery and Praveen Kumar Rajesh, are members of Karnataka’s semi-nomadic Hakki Pikki tribal community from Hunsur in Mysuru. They had travelled to Mozambique to apparently sell herbal medicines and oils. The trio had approached immigration officials on June 21 in Manica City, seeking an extension of their visa.
An in-charge officer offered them a visa for a year, which they later came to realise was actually an illegal work permit. On this basis, the three were detained and their passports confiscated subsequently, on July 2.
Shashi ji - I am aware of this case. Indian High Commission in Mozambique is doing their best. @IndiainMoz https://t.co/knOKLj7m9L
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 24, 2018
A 16-member group from Mysuru district had reached Mozambique to sell herbal medicines and oils around three to four months back. While 13 members returned, the three men were held by authorities from the Nampula province and were questioned about their “fraudulent” visas.
Earlier, Head of Chancery and SS (Consular) at the Indian Consulate in Maputo spoke to TNM and had said, “They are not in jail but they are not allowed to leave the country. Three to four months ago, a group of 16 persons from Karnataka travelled from Malawi to Mozambique on a business visa. When their visiting visa expired, they wanted to get their visas extended but were allegedly misled by some locals, who convinced them they could arrange for a residence permit in exchange of Rs 16,000 per passport. Hence, they (Mozambique officials) are saying that they need the three to be in the country until investigations in this matter are over.”