Bring back bodies of Tamil students from Russia: DMK

DMK leader TR Baalu on Tuesday requested S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister to bring the dead bodies of four medical students who died after drowning in Russia's Volga River. Baalu also submitted another letter asking the MEA to bring R Santhosh Kumar of Chennai who was arrested by Malaysian police on charges of Visa irregularities.

New Delhi:Former Union Minister and DMK's Parliamentary committee leader TR Baalu on Tuesday met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and urged him to bring the bodies of four medical students from Tamil Nadu who died after drowning in Russia.

According to Baalu, the students are from Chennai, Salem, Tiruppur and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu.

"R Vignesh, Mohammed Ashik, Stephen Lebahu and Manoj are the four students from Tamil Nadu who studied MD in Russia's Volgograd University. Unfortunately, they drowned in the Volga river on Sunday. All the four had lost their lives in this fatal incident," Baalu said in his letter to Jaishankar.

The DMK leader further asked the external affairs minister to bring back the bodies of the deceased as their bereaved parents are waiting.

"I request you to direct our diplomats and embassy officials in Russia to send the bodies to India at the earliest," he added.

Baalu also submitted another letter asking the MEA to bring R Santhosh Kumar of Chennai who was arrested by Malaysian police on charges of visa irregularities.

"Santhosh's Visa had expired. He failed to renew it due to the lockdown. Therefore, the Malaysian police have arrested him," he insisted.