A 36-year-old Indian national from Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district, identified as Adarsh Behera, has been abducted by the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) amid the ongoing civil war in Sudan. The incident reportedly took place in the war-torn city of Al Fashir, according to media reports on Monday, November 3.
Sources said Behera was kidnapped from Al Fashir, located about 1,000 kilometres from Khartoum, and is believed to have been taken to Nyala, an RSF stronghold in South Darfur, PTI reported.
Confirming the development, Sudan’s Ambassador to India, Mohammed Abdalla Ali Eltom, said his country is coordinating with India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to secure Behera’s safe release. “We kind of know what we need to do. And we have seen what they (RSF) are capable of doing. We hope that he will be treated well. And we hope that we can see him coming back safely soon,” Eltom told PTI.
Eltom described the situation as “very unpredictable”, but assured that both governments are actively working on the matter. He also recalled a previous case involving another Indian citizen during the siege of a Sudanese city. “Even before that, during the siege of one of the Sudanese cities, the Indian ministry had reached out to us about another of its citizens there, who endured very difficult conditions during those 500 days,” he said.
The civil war between Sudan’s army and the RSF, , has plunged the African nation into chaos, causing widespread destruction and a deep humanitarian crisis. Both the Indian and Sudanese authorities are continuing their diplomatic and security efforts to ensure Behera’s early and safe return.
