BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur, Ramesh Awasthi, has written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking immediate intervention to bring back the body of Merchant Navy chief officer Sagar Gupta, a resident of Kanpur who was killed in a Black Sea attack amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Gupta died after his vessel came under attack on July 18 and the attack on the merchant vessel MV Omorfi. It claimed the life of the Kanpur seafarer while the other crew members were reported safe.
The MP said Gupta’s family was informed about his death, but his mortal remains have still not been brought back to India. He urged the Ministry of External Affairs to act swiftly, complete the necessary formalities with the Russian authorities and ensure that Gupta’s mortal remains are repatriated to Kanpur at the earliest so that the family can perform the last rites.
Earlier, the Kanpur district administration had also written to the MEA to verify the incident and facilitate the repatriation of Gupta’s body if the information was confirmed. The district officials said that neither the Ministry of Home Affairs nor the shipping company had officially confirmed Gupta’s death or any attack on the vessel at that stage.
The development comes as the MEA has also summoned Ukraine’s Ambassador to New Delhi over the incident and condemned attacks on commercial vessels.
According to Gupta’s wife, the sailor was employed with a Mumbai-based company for recruitment and placement services. She told officials that he left Kanpur for Mumbai on June 13, reached there the next day, travelled to Istanbul on June 15 and boarded the cargo vessel as chief officer from Istanbul on June 17.
Gupta last spoke to the family on July 17. On July 21, one of his colleagues informed them over the phone that the vessel had come under a drone attack in the Black Sea on July 18 and that Gupta had been killed, his wife said.
They also claimed that officials from the shipping company later contacted them regarding the incident. Shalu Gupta has submitted a written complaint seeking action against the placement agency and has also asked that her husband’s mortal remains be brought back to India. The family said it was continuing to await official confirmation.
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