Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday sought the Centre’s immediate intervention for the safe return of people who are stranded in strife-torn Ukraine. In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the chief minister also shared a list of persons from Jharkhand stuck in the crisis-hit country.

The letter read, “Estimated 20,000 Indians including 18,000 students are believed to be stranded in Ukraine. My office is constantly being approached by the relatives of those persons from Jharkhand who are stuck in Ukraine during war times. They are in a state of panic and horror and compelled to move with limited stock of essential provisions to makeshift safety places like underground metro rail lines.

“I feel we must reach out to them in this hour of crisis and make best possible efforts to evacuate them back home.” Soren requested the Home Minister to instruct officials concerned of the Government of India to make necessary arrangements to facilitate the quick evacuation of Jharkhand students stuck in Ukraine.

“Till such time they could be accommodated in safe places with an adequate supply of essentials,” the letter read. An official with the state control room said, till 5 pm on Saturday, the Jharkhand government had managed to trace 86 students from the state stuck in Ukraine.

“We are revising the list and a fresh one will be released by Sunday evening,” the official said. The chief minister had also announced that the state government would reimburse travel expenses of all Jharkhand residents who are stranded and returning on their own cost from crisis-hit Ukraine.

With PTI Inputs