Exclusive: "You Know SRK?" Sudan Rebels, Guns In Hand, Ask Kidnapped Indian

An Indian national has been kidnapped by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in Sudan, a country that has seen violent clashes erupt since 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF. Sudan's capital, Khartoum, has been at the heart of this devastating conflict that has displaced over 13 million people.

A video sent to NDTV shows an Indian man, identified as Adarsh Behera from Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district, sitting between two RSF soldiers one of whom asks him, "Do you know Shah Rukh Khan?"

READ | NDTV Exclusive: 'Innocents Killed, Girls Raped' - Inside Sudan's Crisis

Another soldier in his rear prompts him to tell the camera, "Dagalo good."  'Dagalo,' of course, is in reference to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, or "Hemeti," the dreaded leader of the RSF. 

Sources told NDTV that Behera, 36, was kidnapped from the city of Al Fashir, roughly 1,000 km from Khartoum. From there, he is most likely taken to the city of Nyala, an RSF stronghold and the capital of South Darfur in southwest Sudan, roughly 1,200 km from Khartoum. 

NDTV reached out to Behera's family in Odisha, who shared that the 36-year-old has been working in Sudan since 2022 for a company called Sukarati Plastic Factory. Behera's wife, Susmita, told NDTV that the couple are parents to two boys, eight and three years old. 

Behera's family shared a video with NDTV in which he could be seen sitting on the floor with folded hands, pleading into the camera, "I am here in Al Fashir where the situation is very bad. I have been living here for two years with great difficulty. My family and children are very worried. I request the state (Odisha) government to help me."

Raiding on camelback and Toyota technicals, the RSF has swept the last government stronghold of Al Fashir after an 18-month siege. The  International Criminal Court warned on Monday that the RSF's actions could amount to war crimes after reports of mass killings and rapes in the region. 

"As you can expect, there is a complete communication blackout in Al Fashir. No one can contact anyone in the city right now. And we, of course, hope that he is not to be harmed or hurt by any mistake. This is very unpredictable. We kind of know what we need to do. And we have seen what they are capable of doing. We hope that he will be treated well. And we hope that we can see him coming back safely soon," Sudan Ambassador to India Dr Mohammed Abdalla Ali Eltom told NDTV.

On March 22, the SAF recaptured the presidential palace in central Khartoum. However, an RSF drone attack on the palace resulted in the death of a military spokesperson and three crew members from Sudan TV, who were reporting on the SAF's advance.

The conflict also extended to North Darfur, where a clash between the RSF and the Darfur Joint Protection Force resulted in losses for the paramilitary group. The RSF launched the attack with over 700 vehicles but faced a strong defence from the Joint Force. Reports indicate that more than 100 RSF fighters were killed, 30 vehicles were recaptured, and 17 others were destroyed.