Actor-politician Deepak Adhikari, more popularly known as Dev, has helped Indians stranded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, return home. This comes soon after the All India Trinamool Congress MP helped repatriate thousands of Indians stranded in Russia and Nepal.
According to a report in the Khaleej Times, a community-sponsored chartered flight from Dubai to Kolkata took off on June 28 with 171 passengers on board.
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Organisers told the newspaper that the special Indigo 6E9121 flight would not have been possible without the involvement of the Bengali actor and Member of Parliament (MP) from Ghatal. Adhikari helped coordinate between the Centre and the state authorities for approvals, organisers added.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
"These are unprecedented times and as you can see, no government could have been enough prepared to handle this exigency. So, whatever little we can do to help in any capacity counts at this stage," Adhikari told the UAE-based newspaper.
The Bengali actor added that his team had been attending distress calls on social media platforms after helping repatriate 1,000 workers from Nepal in May.
According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, 1.4 lakh passengers have been flown back to India onboard repatriation fights as part of the Vande Bharat Mission. About 762 inbound flights have been operated as of June 27.
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