A group of 13 youths from South Dinajpur, stuck in Dubai for the past few days, sought central government intervention to help them return home.

On Sunday, their family members met Sukanta Majumdar, the BJP MP of Balurghat and state BJP president.

On Monday, Majumdar met Union external affairs minister S. Jaishankar in Delhi and requested him to facilitate the return of the youths. He also handed a letter to the minister with details of the youths.

Sources said that the youths from ward 15 of Balurghat left for Dubai on December 1 to join jobs in the information technology sector.

“They went to Dubai through a placement agency that assured them of a decent salary and jobs in the IT sector. However, after reaching Dubai, they were engaged under a construction company and told they would have to serve as construction workers,” said a youth’s family member.

Each of them, he said, had spent around Rs 2.5 lakh to reach Dubai from Balurghat.

As the youths resisted this change of plan, they were allegedly forced to get into a room.

“On Saturday, we got a video message from them. They mentioned that the construction company was not providing them proper food. Representatives of the company have reportedly demanded Rs 1 lakh from each of them to let them return home,” the family member added.

In such a situation, the worried families approached Majumdar on Sunday.

They apprised him about the situation and also showed the video clip sent by the youths to him and requested help. The MP, in turn, promised every help in his power to get the youths home as soon as possible.

A day later, he went to Delhi and met Jaishankar.

“We are worried about their safety and health. It is almost six days now that they are staying captive in Dubai,” said a resident of the locality. "We just want our boys to come back home fast."