After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, then in Durban for the BRICS summit, asked his foreign policy managers to ensure the security of 100 Indians working in the war-torn Central African Republic (CAR), Indian diplomats on arranged for a complement of 30 French troops to guard their factory premises.
French troops arrived at the cement plant on the outskirts of the CAR capital of Bangui after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) pulled strings, said Jaguar Overseas KS. Aswathanarayana, CEO whose company runs the factory.
Ironically, colleagues of French troops safeguarding Indian lives and property at the Bangui cement plant were shot dead. As per the earlier reports, the two Indians were killed. Also, another Indian and a Nepali citizen were seriously injured during what they claimed was a particularly confusing situation. Six other Indians injured in the incident were admitted to a French military hospital in neighbouring Chad. Meanwhile, the bodies of Krishnayya Mogaveera (Indian) and Karna Bahadur (Nepali) have been brought to Gabon with the French providing a military aircraft for the purpose.