Operation Kaveri: 6 Odisha Natives Narrate Ordeal After Returning From Conflict-Torn Sudan

Bhubaneswar: These native of Odisha lost their luggage and were robbed at gunpoint before being evacuated from the conflict-ridden Sudan with India launching “Operation Kaveri” with the aim of repatriating all the citizens stranded there.

Six Odias, hailing from Bhubaneswar, Balasore, Bhadrak and Jagatsinghpur, landed at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here and narrated the near-death experience with local channels on Friday.

“The clashes between the army and paramilitary forces began on April 15. There was no electricity thereafter and the company somehow managed to arrange two meals a day for us. From April 17 and April 18, locals went on a looting spree. They mostly stole mobiles and dollars at gunpoint,” said Kedar Kumar Nayak, a returnee.

They then contacted the Indian Embassy and took a bus to Port Sudan from where they sailed in INS Sumedha to India.

A returnee from Khartoum said that the region was severely ravaged by bullet and bombs. “We could not sleep for nine days as the building would tremble under the impact of the explosions. We even feared going to the canteen on the ground floor,” he said, adding that another Odia who was with the company he worked for will soon land in Odisha.

Some had even lost hopes of returning to India. “All malls and shops were closed and we also had no money to buy food stuff. We are thankful to the government for having evacuated us from Sudan,” said another returnee.

Notably, 10th batch with 135 Indian citizens successfully departed from Port Sudan on an IAF C 130J flight, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed on Friday morning. They are headed towards Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. INS Sumedha began the operation on Tuesday by transporting the first batch of 278 Indian individuals from Port Sudan to Jeddah.

According to Indian embassy website, there were around 2,800 Indian nationals in Sudan. There was also a settled Indian community of around 1,200 people – which has been in the country for nearly 150 years.