Junagadh, 4 August, 2014

Thanks to timely efforts by Gujarat BJP Rajya Sabha MP Mansukhbhai Mandavia and Ministry of External Affairs, a Junagadh based ground nut exporter and a broker accompanying him returned safely to their hometown from Vietnam where they were taken as hostage for Rs. 90 lakh.

Junagadh based Jigneshbhai Sadrani is major exporter of ground nut.

For the first time he finalized a deal with someone in Vietnam and exported a consignment of ground nut.

The consignment suffered damage due to rainfall on its way to Vietnam, but it covered by insurance.

More than a week ago, Jigneshbhai received a call from a buyer in Vietnam. Jigneshbhai was told that ground nut imported from Gujarat suffered damage due to rain and Jigneshbhai’s physical presence was necessary to sign the insurance related documents.

Jigneshbhai and his Vadodara based agent Hiteshbhai reacted positively to this request and visited Vietnam with a gentle motive to assist the buyers.

When they reached Vietnam, the mafias there trapped Jigneshbhai and Hiteshbhai and demanded Rs. 90 lakh for their freedom. The mafias threatened to snatch away their passports.

Jigneshbhai called his father Kishorbhai Mathurbhai Sadrani(Dolatpara, Junagadh, owner of Giriraj seeds industries) and asked to send Rs. 90 lakh for his freedom.

Citing a major trouble for son, Kishorbhai contacted a BJP leader known to him, through whom he later spoke to BJP Rajya Sabha MP Mansukhbhai Mandavia.

Mansukhbhai who is in Delhi at present contacted Ministry of External Affairs, through which the issue was sorted out within hours. Jigneshbhai was safely taken to Hanoi airport from where he traveled back to Rajkot.

Sharing the gravity of situation, Mansukhbhai Mandavis said, “It was a challenging task because Jigneshbhai and Hiteshbhai were kept at a place from where China was just across the river. Jigneshbhai told us that local police and mafias could have some connection. We feared that if we mobilize Vietnamese police to help our citizens, and if local cops leak the operation, mafias could push our two sons across the border in China. If they were pushed to China, then rescuing them could be very difficult because they had no visa to travel China. The operation was therefore executed tactfully in coordination with Ministry of External Affairs, India and our mission in Vietnam.”

Speaking to media persons Jigneshbhai’s father said, “Mansukhbhai turned out to be a God for us. As soon as he was informed about the problem, he started his attempts and took up the matter with relevant authorities continuously for four hours till the solution arrived.”

Free from potentially a big trouble, Jigneshbhai who returned back from Vietnam in morning flight on Monday told media persons that he had visa and return ticket from Hanoi. All he requested was a safe passage to airport at Hanoi. Jigneshbhai thanked Indian mission in Vietnam, Ministry of External Affairs and Mansukhbhai for their timely intervention.

Jigheshbhai and family visited temple for darshan and distributed sweets for safe exit from a major trouble.