Who is Adarsh Behera, the 36-year-old Indian kidnapped by rebel forces in Sudan?

The violence in Sudan, which has claimed the lives of over 150,000 people, has hit close to an Indian family. Amidst this humanitarian crisis, news has emerged that a 36-year-old Indian national has been abducted by rebel forces, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in war-torn El-Fasher.

Confirming the same, Sudan’s Ambassador to India Mohammed Abdalla Ali Eltom said that his country is coordinating with the Indian authorities to secure the release of the man.

But what do we know about the man who has been captured? What do the rebels want from him?

Who is Adarsh Behera, the Indian captured in Sudan?

On Wednesday, media outlet NDTV released a video in which two of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) can be seen seated with an Indian national. One of them can be heard asking him in English, “Do you know Shah Rukh Khan?”

Another soldier behind him prompts him to say, “Dagalo good,” referring to Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti , the commander of the RSF.

The Indian in the video has been identified as Adarsh Behera from Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district. The 36-year-old was reportedly kidnapped from El-Fasher and is believed to have been taken to Nyala, an RSF stronghold in South Darfur, around 1,000 kilometres from Khartoum.

Behera has been working in Sudan since 2022 with his family saying that he was employed by a company known as Sukarati Plastic Factory. According to his wife, Susmita Behera, they have two sons, aged eight and three.

Speaking to NDTV, she expressed her shock when she learnt of her husband’s capture. “Earlier, he told me conditions were worsening, but we never imagined something like this could happen.” Susmita added that the family has approached the Odisha government as well as the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to intervene for his safe release.

In another video shared by his family with NDTV, Behera is seen sitting on the floor with folded hands, appealing for help. “I am here in El-Fasher where the situation is very bad. I have been living here for two years with great difficulty. My family and children are very worried. I request the state government to help me,” he said.

Before being captured, Behera is among the hundreds of Indians who reside in Sudan. As per the Embassy of India, around 100 Indians live and work in Sudan. This is after many other Indian nationals were evacuated from the country back in 2023 when civil war broke out.

Are there any efforts being made to secure Behera’s release?

Shortly after Behera’s videos made headlines, Sudan’s Ambassador to India, Mohammed Abdalla Ali Eltom, said that they were closely coordinating with India and trying to secure Behera’s release from the RSF.

“We have been in close contact with India’s Ministry of External Affairs ever since reports emerged about the captured Indian national,” said Eltom, adding that the current circumstances in the area are “very unpredictable”.

“This militia is notorious for the atrocities that it can commit, but we hope that they will make sure that he’s safe and sound. We, as a government, are ready to play any role in ensuring his safe return to India, and we’ll cooperate with the Indian authorities. We’ll offer everything that we can in order to ensure his safe return to India,” the ambassador was quoted as saying.

He further added, “India and Sudan have long-standing and deeply rooted relations. India has always been an important partner to Sudan — in times of peace and in times of war. During this ongoing crisis, India has extended humanitarian assistance to Sudan and continues to do so.”

What’s the situation on ground in Sudan?

The news of Behera’s kidnapping comes amid the wider humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where prolonged conflict has disrupted daily life and placed civilians at risk.

The African country is in the midst of a civil war with the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) battling against one another. The latest escalation has come with the RSF seizing El-Fasher , the last major city in Darfur held by the army, after an 18-month siege that trapped tens of thousands of civilians.

Reports have emerged that mass killings, sexual violence, looting and abductions have emerged in the aftermath with satellite imagery revealing the scale of what is unfolding in El-Fasher and the surrounding Darfur region.

And on Monday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) warned that the atrocities being committed in Sudan’s El-Fasher could amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Additionally, famine is spreading across Sudan, noted a global hunger monitoring group. According to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the leading international authority on hunger crises, famine has been detected in El-Fasher in Darfur and Kadugli town in South Kordofan province. Twenty other areas in Darfur and Kordofan, where fighting has intensified in recent months, are also at risk of famine, according to the IPC.

It said about 375,000 people have been pushed into famine in Darfur and Kordofan as of September, and another 6.3 million people across Sudan face extreme levels of hunger.

In order to escape this perilous situation, more than 36,000 people have fled Sudan’s Kordofan region since Saturday, noted the UN’s migration agency. The people, most on foot, are heading to Tawila, a town west of El-Fasher that is sheltering more than 652,000 displaced people, the UN said.

With inputs from agencies