On Saturday, Urgen Tamang, a resident of Himali Gaon, a small mountainous village in the Kalimpong district of West Bengal, He recounted that after 12 days of basic firearm training, he and a few other people were tricked by job recruiters and coerced by the Russian military to join the war against Ukraine.
Tamang quoted after landing at Bagdogra Airport, in North Bengal, “I saw many Indians, getting killed in the war. Every day was a nightmare for me. I couldn’t eat or sleep for days. I still can’t believe that I am back home and united with the family. I thank God for my safe return from the war zone in Russia.”
He also adds, “The agents, who took me to Russia promising a helper’s job with good salary, handed me over to the Russian Army after I reached there. My ordeal began there. I along with a few other persons were dropped in the battle zone just after 10 – 12 days of basic weapon training.”
Tamang spent eighteen years in the Indian army, yet he never saw war. Shortly after the Kargil conflict, he enlisted in the army, and he served for 23 years. His retirement was on 2018, so he was seeking employment.
He landed at at Bagdogra airport on Saturday. When his wife and two kids saw him come out, they started crying. Following a tearful reunion, Tamang touched the feet of Rabi Pradhan, the man who was instrumental in facilitating Tamang’s return to his birthplace. Pradhan, the head of the Kalimpong municipality’s board of administrators, persistently pressed Indian officials to secure Tamang’s release from the Russian troops.