Indian Embassy in Serbia refused to provide information about a Hyderabad man who is languishing in Serbian jail for the past 10 months.
Responding to an RTI, the embassy replied, ‘We claim exemption from providing the requested information under section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act 2005.’
In the RTI, the applicant, Robin Zaccheus, sought reasons for the imprisonment of Feroz Khan. It also asked whether the Indian Embassy pleaded for Feroz’s mercy petition and whether the MEA has instructed the Embassy of India, Belgrade to take action for his release.
Parents sought MEA help
Earlier, Feroz Khan’s parents sought the help of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to trace him as his whereabouts are not known even after 10 months after his arrest by police in Belgrade.
As it is not yet clear under which charges he was arrested, MBT’s Amjed Ullah Khan also tweeted Feroz’s details along with his cousin Noman Hussain Junaidi’s letter to Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Despite the passing of nearly a month, no details of Feroz Khan came into the limelight.
Feroz Khan migrated to Serbia in 2020
Feroz Khan, aged 44 years, who used to reside in First Lancer migrated to Serbia in 2020.
In Serbia’s Belgrade, he used to run an Indo-Arab restaurant. He was arrested by Serbia police on March 10, 2022, following a complaint by Afghan nationals.
Before the complaint, he asked two groups to leave his restaurant as they were fighting over a financial matter.
After one of the groups who allegedly owed money to another group managed to flee from the spot following his intervention, he was held responsible.
