A 37-year-old Hyderabad man, Mohammed Ahmed, was allegedly defrauded by a job agent and sent to Russia

HYDERABAD: A 37-year-old man from Khairatabad, Hyderabad, Mohammed Ahmed, has allegedly been defrauded by a job agent and sent to Russia, where he has reportedly been drafted to fight in the war against Ukraine. “He has been given a weapon and asked to fight in the war against Ukraine. His last known location is near the Ukraine border. Our request to the government is that he should be helped and brought back to India,” Firdous Begum, a close relative of Ahmed, told TOI on Thursday. Ahmed, who used to work as a bouncer in Hyderabad, was approached by a job agent in Mumbai offering work in a construction company in Russia. He travelled to Russia on 25 April. Ahmed reportedly jumped from an army vehicle while being taken closer to the Ukrainian border, refusing to fight. “He injured his leg. However, those in command told him that he would have to go and fight,” Firdous Begum, Ahmed’s wife, said. Ahmed contacted his family to explain the situation. For months, he did not reveal the difficulties he was facing and was reportedly trained for ten days in using weapons. In a representation to Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Firdous Begum requested help for her husband’s return to India. She said that after Ahmed left India, he was not provided work for nearly a month. “Later, my husband, along with 30 others, was moved to a remote area and forcibly trained in weapons. Out of these, six are Indians. After training, 26 people were taken to the border area to fight the Ukrainian army. While being taken to the border, my husband jumped from the army vehicle,” she said. He suffered a fracture in his right leg while escaping. “My husband told me that nearly 17 people in his group have died fighting the Ukrainian army. He is being threatened to agree to fight or face death,” she added. It may be recalled that last year, a youth from Hyderabad who was also lured to Russia in a job fraud case died fighting in Ukraine. The Indian government helped another youth return safely to the country.