After 2 months in Iranian detention centre, Nanded bizman returns

What Yogesh hadn’t factored in was that he was visiting Tehran, capital of one of the world’s most secretive nations, where censorship is a way of life. On his phone were images of what Iran considers sensitive locations such as the Milad Tower, a telecommunications tower, and other notable sights

NAGPUR: It was Yogesh Panchal’s first overseas trip. So, naturally, one of the first things the 33-year-old entrepreneur did after checking into his hotel was take a tour of the sights. He took the mandatory selfies, clicked pictures of the big-ticket tourist attractions, and sent them via WhatsApp to his wife, relatives and friends back home in India.

After 2 months in Iranian detention centre, Nanded bizman returns

Then Yogesh returned to his hotel room. “I was talking to my wife over a WhatsApp call, when suddenly some plainclothes people came to my room, blindfolded me, and took me away me for an inquiry.”

What Yogesh hadn’t factored in was that he was visiting Tehran, capital of one of the world’s most secretive nations, where censorship is a way of life. On his phone were images of what Iran considers sensitive locations such as the Milad Tower, a telecommunications tower, and other notable sights. The authorities had learnt of this via the VPN app that must be downloaded by every visitor to Iran, and flagged it as a security concern. So they decided to detain him.

Yogesh is back home in Wasmat, a sleepy outpost in Nanded district, in Maharashtra, after spending two months in detention centres in Iran. He was detained on December 7 and returned to Nanded via a flight to Mumbai on Tuesday.

The experience has crashed his dream of expanding his dry fruits business in Iran, the reason he had visited Tehran, but Yogesh couldn’t be more relieved to be back, after negotiations between the Indian external affairs ministry and the Iranian embassy.

A mechanical engineer who also runs a business in manufacturing air coolers, Yogesh is a father of two. He said that being detained without having committed a crime was very traumatic. “It was painful as I was plagued by uncertainty over my release,” he said.

“I had made friends with a businessman in Tehran through WhatsApp chat. He offered me a chance to expand my export-import business in his country and I went to Tehran to meet him.”

How he was traced

Yogesh was detained two days after he arrived in Tehran. When his family learnt of this, they sought the help of his local business contact, who put them in touch with a local lawyer. His wife Shraddha and brother Ganesh also travelled to Delhi to meet officials in the Union ministry of external affairs (MEA). Ganesh, an engineer with a state-run power company in Bhusawal, said he had requested the MEA to expedite measures for the quick and safe return of his brother. They also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, informing them of Yogesh’s detention in Tehran.

After nearly a month-long effort, the lawyer in Tehran figured out what had happened to Yogesh and informed his family. “We told the Indian government that Yogesh had unknowingly violated Iran’s regulations. We pointed out that he has no criminal record and appealed for a pardon,” said Ganesh.

Recalling his time in detention, Yogesh said, “I was kept in a small room for the first few days and interrogated about my personal life, education, and business background. They also examined my travel history of the past decade.” He said that, due to “good behaviour” in isolation, he was transferred to a larger hall with other detainees.

Yogesh said the Iranian authorities frequently changed his place of detention. “Being a vegetarian, I faced some difficulties with food. I often exchanged meals with others to get a vegetarian diet, mainly bread and lentils.” He adds, “I kept wondering when I would get out and was worried about what my family had assumed about my fate.”

Call from MEA

Shraddha Panchal couldn’t believe her ears when an MEA official, called to say that her husband had been located in a Tehran jail and that the process for his deportation to India would begin soon. It was January 24, exactly 48 days after Yogesh went incommunicado. It took the MEA another week to present the Panchal family the gift of their lives, when Yogesh himself called them on February 1.

“It was a huge relief and an overwhelming surprise when an official from the External Affairs Ministry called us to say that we should be at Mumbai airport early on Tuesday morning to receive Yogesh,” said an emotional Shraddha, who works with the local municipality. The family was finally reunited with Yogesh when he landed in Mumbai on Iran Air flight on Tuesday, at 4.30 am.

Yogesh said he was not aware that taking photos of the Milad Tower and other sites was prohibited in Iran. “This experience has taught me an important lesson—before travelling to any foreign country, make sure you thoroughly understand its laws.”