Three IIT students were detained by Italian police in North Italy’s Ventimiglia town on Monday during checking for illegal immigrants but were released hours later following the intervention of the In
Three IIT students were detained by Italian police in North Italy’s Ventimiglia town on Monday during checking for illegal immigrants but were released hours later following the intervention of the Indian mission in Rome, an episode that Italy admitted was a “mistake” after India “strongly raised” the issue with it.
One of the students was identified by the MEA as Akshit Goyal. The other two students were identified by news agency reports as Deepak Bhatt and Uday Kusupati, adding that while Akshit Goyal and Deepak Bhatt are from IIT Delhi, Uday Kusupati is from IIT Bombay. The trio were visiting Italy as tourists and carrying valid passports with Schengen visas.
Ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Italian authorities have admitted it was a “mistake” on their part to detain the three as their documents were in order. He said the Indian Mission has taken up the issue with the Italian authorities strongly.
After they were detained at Ventimiglia railway station, the three IITians were flown along with other detainees to Bari, a town almost a 1,000 km away in south of Italy.
Mr Swarup said the Indian Mission in Rome, after coming to know of the incident, swung into action and contacted Italy’s ministry of interior affairs.
