Four stuck in Armenia,Sushma promises help

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Thursday the Indian ambassador to Armenia has contacted the four people from Punjab, who sought help saying they were stranded there, after reading a Hindustan Times’ report on the issue.

Jatinder Singh of Amritsar district, Shamsher Singh of Bholath, his wife Pinki, and another unidentified person had shared a video on social media requesting AAP leader Bhagwant Mann to help bring them back from Armenia. They claimed they had not eaten for five days and that their landlord has asked them to leave his house.

“I have seen the news report in Daily Hindustan dated 7th February reg four Indians from Punjab who are stranded in Armenia. Indian Ambassador in Armenia has reached them and is providing all help and assistance. @IndiainArmenia,” Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

“I have also spoken to @capt_amarinder, Chief Minister, Punjab to apprehend the concerned travel agents. He has promised immediate action in the matter,” she said.

The four people had urged Mann, the Member of Parliament from Sangrur, to take action against a group of seven travel agents from Dhilwan and Patti, who they said had duped them of Rs 4 lakh each and fraudulently sent them on a tourist visa to Armenia after promising work visa.

Kapurthala Police had booked six people, including an Armenia-based travel agent, for fraudulently sending them to Armenia on a tourist visa in December last year.

Sushma Swaraj has proactively helped Indians who have sent her distress messages on social media platform like Twitter in the past. She even helped an Indian man in the US who had lost his passport in Washington, just days before he was to travel for his wedding in August last year.

Recently, television actor Karanvir Bohra, who was stuck at Moscow International Airport, thanked Sushma Swaraj for helping him get a temporary passport and a visa for Russia.