Conned into fighting on Ukraine frontline, former Army man says in distress message
Times of India | 27 March 2024
KALIMPONG: A 47-year-old former Army man from Kalimpong, allegedly tricked into working for the Russian army, has appealed to Indian government to rescue him before he is sent to fight on the Ukraine frontline.
Former Indian Army havildar Urgen Tamang, a resident of Chibo-Purbung in Kalimpong, has prepared a three-minute video, which he sent to his wife, Ambika.Speaking in Hindi, he has blamed "recruitment agents" for duping him, promising employment opportunities abroad as a security guard, but instead recruiting him in the Russian army without his consent. He says he was now being compelled to fight the ongoing war against Ukraine.
Tamang says the agents had initially told him that the job he was being considered for was that of a security guard in Moscow, Russia. He reached Moscow on January 19, where he was received by a Gorkha/Nepalese person, who put him up in a hotel for a night. The next day, he was sent to a group of Tamil agents. He was then put up in a hotel for about 10 days before being relocated to an army camp.
"I was taken to the army camp for normal training for approximately 18 days. There, I was asked to sign a bond. Thereafter, I was transferred to a jungle camp, where I received training on handling guns and ammunition. It became evident that we were being prepared for frontline combat for the Ukraine war," Tamang said in the video, requesting Centre to help and rescue him.
Ambika, Urgen's 44-year-old wife, told TOI that she had not spoken to her husband since March 22, when he had told her the Russians were taking them somewhere further from "camp".
"I don't know which camp, I don't know whether he meant the jungle camp or the army camp. He cannot even understand the language there, and he is alone. I don't know what to do," Ambika said.
When asked about how he found himself in that situation, Ambika said her husband hadn't told her much about his relocation to Russia. "He told me that he wanted to go abroad to work. He didn't say much. He had arranged everything and had come home for a few days during winter. He was running here and there even when he was home, arranging documents and other things," Ambika said, adding that he flew to Delhi and then to Russia by Jan 19.
Urgen had retired from the Indian Army in 2018 as a havildar, and had been working as a security guard in a private firm in Gujarat until recently.
"I am trying my best to draw the attention of the authorities on this issue," said Ambika. "I hope government will do something," she said.
The family - Ambika and their two daughters - has approached the chairman of Kalimpong Municipality, who has forwarded the message to the Ministry of External Affairs and chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Darjeeling MP Raju Bista has said he has communicated with the MEA and the Indian Embassy in Russia. "I have reached out to all relevant authorities, including our MEA, the Indian Embassy in Russia and the highest office in our nation. I am using all resources at my end to ensure his safe repatriation back home. I am hopeful of success," Bista wrote in a press release.