Hyderabad: A pall of gloom descended at Bazarghat as family members of Mohammed Asfan performed his Tadfeen (burial) at Masjid-e-Qutub Shahi after ‘Zohar’ namaz on Sunday. He was shot dead at the Ukrainian border.
Scores of people attended the janaza (funeral) to pay their last respects.
The mortal remains of two Indians who were killed on the Russia-Ukraine border after they were trapped by agents and forced into the Russian private army Wagner Group reached Delhi on Saturday and were flown to their homes in Surat and Hyderabad respectively.
Mohammed Asfan of Red Hills, Bazarghat, and Hemil Ashvinbhai Mangukiya, 23, of Surat, Gujarat, along with three of his friends were recruited by the agent Faisal Khan alias Baba's directions.
“Faisal and other agents from India separately collected Rs 3.50 lakh from 20 Indians from other states during the past one year stating that they will be paid `1.50 lakh per month. They were told that they were being hired for non-combatant roles. Later when they reached Moscow, on November 12, via Chennai Central, Faisal’s co agents, Ramesh and Moin, made them sign on an agreement written in Russian language and forcibly moved to war zone on Ukrainian border by the private army," Asfan's brother Mohammed Imran said.
When MEA contacted Russian authorities, they informed Asfan died of an explosion in the war zone in Donetsk region on January 27, he added.
Mohammad Imran told Deccan Chronicle that Asfan's body arrived from Moscow at Delhi airport early on Saturday. Initially, we were not allowed to have a glance of Asfan’s body by the Delhi airport authorities but to identify him, the authorities showed us Asfan’s face and wrapped it again, Imran said.
However, Imran had to cross check with the passport and other official documents sent by the Russian military to identify Asfan.
“I thank Asaduddin Owaisi who personally coordinated with the MEA and helped us when we had almost left hopes. I learnt that there are several Indians stuck at the border in the war zone. I pray for them and request the government to rescue them safely before it is too late,” Imran said.
However, reliable sources disclosed that recruitment of Indians in Wagner Group has been going on for the past 13 months and over 110 Indians from various states have left the Ukrainian border since then. A MEA representative on March 15 disclosed to the media that the Indian government has identified 20 Indians from various states who had gone to Russia out of which two of them have been killed.
Asfan along with others in early November 2023 met agent Faisal Khan who runs ‘Baba Vlogs’ in Dubai. Asfan, Illyas, Sufaian and Nayeem of Karnataka earlier worked in a private company in Dubai. They were inspired by Faisal’s vlogs and met him for a placement. On Faisal’s instruction, the sub agent Sufaian issued tourist visas by charging and sent them to Russia promising a security/helper job.
