Tamil Nadu doctor detained in Russia, returns home after 3 months

Chennai: A Tamil Nadu-based doctor, who was allegedly detained and tortured by Russian authorities in Sochi over suspicions of his connection with Ukraine, has returned to India after serving three months in jail. He reached Chennai airport on Monday night after his release.

Medical Dialogues had previously reported that his wife had appealed to the Central and state governments to intervene and help her bring her husband back to India safely. Dr K Jagadeeswaran, a resident of Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district, got his degree in medicine from an Armenian University in 2022 and has been living in Armenia with his wife since then.

Detailing the ordeal Jagadeeswaran went through in Russia, his wife, Yamini, said that he was tortured and humiliated in custody for reasons unknown to them, and his health condition had deteriorated. She said that her husband has been working in a hospital in Armenia, and the couple has been living there since 2022. They have been married for three years. The couple had come to Tamil Nadu in August to visit their families. She is from Chennai, while her husband, Jagadeeswaran, is from Tiruvallur. During their visit, one of her husband’s friends, Shekhar Manikandan, asked Jagadeeswaran to travel with him to Russia, as he could speak Russian fluently.

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His wife said her husband's friend, who runs an educational consultancy in Russia, wanted Jagadeeswaran to accompany him on a tourist visa. They left on September 15 (from Chennai), and the ordeal started after they reached the Sochi airport. During passport check at the Russian airport, authorities discovered that he had studied medicine in Ukraine. Following this, the Russian authorities questioned them, citing problems with both their passports. They were taken for interrogation by the immigration authorities at the airport, she said.

Seeing her husband's passport and other documents, and after coming to know that Jagadeeswaran can converse well in Russian, the immigration authorities detained him along with his friend at the Sochi airport on September 16. However, the officials released Shekhar Manikandan after a week, and he was deported back to India, while Jagadeeswaran was not allowed to return.

Following this, the police detained him, stating that he had not cooperated with the immigration officials since then. Later, Jagadeeswaran was imprisoned by the Russian police on various charges.

After his release, Dr Jagadeeswaran told ETV Bharat, "When I went to Russia on a tourist trip, the country's immigration officials detained me on suspicion. They confiscated my cell phone and laptop, so I was unable to contact anyone for 15 days. After that, I informed my wife. The Russian authorities continued to hold me in custody simply because I had studied in Ukraine."

"They filed false charges against me and kept me in prison for about three months. I doubted whether I would return to India alive. My friend Manivannan was with me. When a problem arose during his interrogation, the Russian police arrested me when I tried to help him. The Russian authorities did not inform the Indian Embassy in Russia about my arrest," he said, reports The Daily.

Upon learning of this, Jagadeeswaran's family appealed to the central and state governments to take action for his release. They also submitted a petition at the BJP office. Based on this petition, through BJP state president Nainar Nagendran, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar were informed, and efforts were made to secure his release. Indian External Affairs officials clarified that Dr Jagadeeswaran had no current connection to Ukraine and that he had committed no wrongdoing.

Subsequently, Russian authorities confirmed that Jagadeeswaran was innocent and released him. Following his release, Jagadeeswaran travelled from Russia to Delhi and arrived at Chennai airport on Monday night.

"I would like to thank the Indian Embassy officials who took swift action to bring me back to India, as well as BJP state president Nainar Nagendran and Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Jaishankar. If you plan to travel to Russia, make sure you are clearly aware of the country's laws and regulations beforehand," the doctor added.

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