INS Shardul brings back 233 stranded Indians from Iran

New Delhi, June 12, 2020

Indian Naval Ship (INS) Shardul, among the ships deployed to evacuate stranded Indians from various countries during the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19 pandemic), reached Porbandar yesterday with 233 Indians from Iran.

The ship, which was part of the Indian Navy's Operation Samudra Setu for repatriation of Indian nationals, had reached the Bandar Abbas port in Iran last weekend to pick up the Indians from Iran.

Personnel from Indian Navy, State authorities and police were present to receive the evacuees. All arrangements including a screening zone, a sanitisation zone, availability of ambulances and buses for transport were put in place at the port, an official press release said.

The evacuees were disembarked and were taken for medical screening at the jetty followed by Customs clearance and other formalities. The evacuees thereafter boarded buses arranged to take them to the designated quarantine zones. District wise details of the evacuees had already been forwarded to the administration beforehand.

Under Operation Samudra Setu, a total of 3,107 Indians have so far been brought back home from the Maldives (2188), Sri Lanka (686) and Iran (233) by Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa, Magar and Shardul.

NNN