Andhra Pradesh expatriate returnees from Sudan increases to 98: Official

Amaravati: The number of Andhra Pradesh expatriates who returned from strife-torn Sudan safely to India rose to 98, said Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRTS) chief executive P Hemalatha Rani.

Out of the 98, 97 have returned to their hometowns while the remaining one person is expected to reach Vijayawada on Saturday.

"Of all the people who landed at airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, AP government has returned 63 of them to their hometowns via air and roadways at its own expense," said Venkat S Medapati, president of APNRTS, in a statement shared by the society.

Medapati noted that some returnees who did not come through government assistance availed evacuation facility arranged by their employers.

The evacuation, which is part of the Union government's 'Operation Kaveri', was coordinated by AP Bhavan additional resident commissioner Himanshu Kaushik, APNRTS, district officials and others for bringing back people from the southern state stuck in the Sub-Saharan country.

Till now, nearly 3,000 people have been brought back to India from the African nation, according to official data.

Operation Kaveri wrapped

India wrapped up 'Operation Kaveri', launched to rescue its nationals stranded in crisis-hit Sudan, with the transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force making its final flight to bring 47 passengers home.

India launched Operation Kaveri on April 24 to evacuate its nationals from Sudan, which has witnessed deadly fighting between the country's army and a paramilitary group. With the arrival of the Indian Air Force C130 flight on Friday, 3,862 people have been moved out of Sudan through Operation Kaveri, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

The Indian Air Force operated 17 flights and the Indian Navy ships carried out five sorties to move Indians from Port Sudan to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. 86 Indians were evacuated through countries bordering Sudan.

Inputs from PTI