40 days a captive, Odisha man returns from war-torn Sudan: ‘It’s a rebirth’

Recounting the harrowing experience, Adarsh told The Indian Express: “It was very painful… I was scared. Around 15 people abducted me from al-Fashir while I was moving to a safe location. They first kept me in a jungle for around three days and then shifted me to a prison whose condition was no better than a cattle shed. It was pitch-dark everywhere.”

He said he survived on a packet of biscuits a day or a few slices of bread.

Adarsh hails from Kotakana village in Jagatsinghpur district, and is a father to two kids.

For around 20 years, he worked on a meagre salary in different cities. In December 2022, he decided to go to Sudan to save some money. He had hardly worked there for six to seven months when the war started.

It was on October 29 that his family found out he had been kidnapped.

Adarsh’s wife Sasmita had earlier told The Indian Express that she got a call from an unknown number that day and heard her husband saying that he had been abducted by rebels and was in danger. Days later, she received a video showing him being held captive by the RSF.

“The RSF personnel shot that video and sent it to my wife’s number… I went through mental torture. They didn’t let me call my family despite my repeated requests,” said Adarsh.

Back in Odisha, Sasmita approached everyone she knew to bring her husband back.

Acting on her request, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had directed senior officers to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs for Adarsh’s safe return. He also directed the Odisha Resident Commissioner in New Delhi to stay in touch with the Indian Embassy in Sudan to ensure Adarsh’s release and return to India.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Majhi wrote: “It is a matter of immense joy that Adarsh Kumar Behera, a young Odia man from Jagatsinghpur district who had gone missing in Sudan, is returning to his homeland safely. The state government had taken the matter of Adarsh’s disappearance with utmost seriousness upon receiving information about it.”

Adarsh, meanwhile, said he has no idea how he got out.

“I don’t know how I crossed the Sudan border as I was handcuffed and blindfolded. I found out I was out of Sudan after I landed in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday… From there, I came to Hyderabad and then Bhubaneswar,” said Adarsh.

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