New Delhi, June 4: Union Minister and Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday wrote a letter to newly appointed External Affairs Minister, S Jayshankar requesting External Affairs Ministry's personal intervention in release and repatriation of 10 people from Odisha held captive by their employer in Dubai. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Newly-Appointed External Affairs Minister, Joins Twitter, Says 'Proud to Follow in Sushma Swaraj's Footsteps'.

The letter stated, "10 people who were working in the company Asia Pacific Building Contracting LLC, Dubai and accommodated at Saila, Sharjah are kept captive. They released a video about a month back asking for help for the immediate repatriation and their mobile numbers are now deactivated."

Tweet by ANI:

"It has been ascertained that these men belong to Nayagarh and Ganjam districts of Odisha. A select few documents namely copy of the passport of one Pratap Maharana and his phone number are available. The District Labour Officer of Nayagarh has also visited the house of some of the victims, however there is no progress in the matter yet. They request for a immediate repatriation of these victims to India," the statement added.

Considering it as sensitive matter, Pradhan concluded by seeking Jaishankar's personal intervention into the issue for early release of Odia people on humanitarian grounds.

According to reports, the 10 people, labourers by profession, had gone to Dubai for work a few months ago. However, after working for a few months, they were not provided a salary. Not having any other option, the labourers shared a video to their family members.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 06, 2019 06:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).