An Indian man went viral across social media platforms on Saturday after claiming he was being held against his will in Saudi Arabia. The emotional message was delivered in Bhojpuri and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help him return home — accusing his employer of confiscating his passport and issuing death threats. The Indian Embassy had subsequently begun searching for the individual as netizens rallied to glean additional details. Saudi officials however denied the claims — contending that the expat had made incorrect claims in order to garner views.
“My village is in Allahabad…I came to Saudi Arabia. Kapil has my passport. I told him I need to go home, but he is threatening to kill me. Share this video, share it so much that, with your support from India, I can get help and come back to India. If you are from Muslim, Hindu or anyone – brother, wherever you are – please help. Please help me, I will die. I need to go to my mother… Share this video so much that it should reach up to the Prime Minister,” the man can be heard saying.
Indian Embassy launches search
The video first gained traction after a Delhi-based lawyer shared the clip on X and urged the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to intervene. The post by Kalpana Shrivastav also explained that the youth was a resident of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and asked officials to “take immediate cognisance of the incident”.
“Embassy has been trying to locate the person. No further action can be taken as the video does not contain any details about the location/province in Saudi Arabia, or contact number or employer details. Please seek details from the source of the video you have posted,” the Indian Embassy in Riyadh wrote back on X.
It also tagged the Prayagraj Police and District Magistrate — asking officials to reach out to the family and encourage them to email the Embassy with details. The heart-wrenching video had provided little in the way of context clues and his location remained unclear as the clip went viral.
Saudi police dismiss claims
A media spokesperson for the Eastern Province Police in Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the Indian expat had been summoned after the video went viral. An official statement also added that legal measures had been taken against him in coordination with the relevant authorities.
“A claim by an expatriate in a visual content expressing his desire to return to his country has no validity, and it was documented and published for the purpose of increasing the number of views on his account on one of the social media platforms…There is no dispute with his employer,” read a social media update in Arabic.
