25 Indian Workers in Kuwait Arrested For Murder

New Delhi: India has taken up with Kuwait the case of 25 workers who have been arrested after a brawl in which two Egyptians were reportedly killed.

The arrested workers' colleagues have sent a video message to the government, in which they claim they are being hounded by the police and harassed by the construction firm they work for. The Indians were arrested on Thursday, a day after clashes between two groups of workers.

The Indian mission has written to the Kuwaiti foreign ministry and also visited the hospital where about 15 Indians were admitted after the incident. Hundreds of workers, mostly from Punjab and Rajasthan, said they were stuck at the factory and had not been allowed to leave since the fight.

"Our firm is harassing us. I appeal to the Indian government for help. About 700 of us working here are being targeted," said the workers in the video. They also accused the police of bias.

In New Delhi, the foreign ministry asserted that all Indians are safe.

"We have immediately taken action. Our mission in Kuwait has written to the Kuwaiti foreign ministry and sought their assistance. We've also requested for consular assistance to any Indian who needs it. Our mission has gone to all hospitals there to check the welfare of Indian nationals there. I can confirm that no Indian national is in any danger," foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told the reporters.

He added, "There is a 750,000-strong community of Indians in Kuwait which is well-respected and this incident relates to a very small segment." The workers' families in Punjab urged the government to bring them back.

The wife of one of the workers said that "he called to say a terrible fight had broken out after some friends of his were jailed. A lot of Indians were beaten up. He said no one listened to their version and they were jailed."