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Three IIT students detained in Italy, released after India's intervention

by IBNS 03 Jun 2016, 09:12 am

New Delhi, June 3 (IBNS) Three IIT students who had travelled to Italy for the weekend from France, were detained for hours by the Italian Police before being released following intervention by the Indian mission.

The Times of India reported that they were detained in the city of Ventimiglia during checking for illegal immigrants while they were travelling from Venice to Antibes. From there, the three were flown to Baiae in southern Italy, more than 850 km away, and kept in a "camp" without any explanation for why they had been detained.

Akshit Goyal and Deepak Bhatt, from IIT Delhi and Uday Kusupati from IIT Bombay were visiting Italy as tourists and carrying valid passports with Schengen visas.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Italian authorities have admitted it was a "mistake" on their part to detain the three as their documents were in order. He said Indian Mission has taken up the issue with the Italian authorities strongly.