Dhruv Patel and Deepika Patel, a couple from Gujarat’s Anand district, were abducted in Azerbaijan while trying to reach the United States through the illegal “donkey route” and were freed after India’s Ministry of External Affairs and its embassy in Baku pushed for their release under Operation Mahisagar.

The couple, identified as Dhruv Patel (22) and Deepika Patel (32), were kidnapped on February 2, 2026, after arriving in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, as part of a journey arranged by a Mumbai-based agent, the account said. The agent instructed them to switch off their phones and later demanded additional payment.

When the couple refused the extra demand, kidnappers abducted them, held them in a basement at a secluded house and tortured them, the account said. The kidnappers live-streamed Dhruv’s assault via WhatsApp to his family and threatened to kill the couple or harvest and sell Dhruv’s kidneys unless ransom was paid.

Indian authorities moved quickly after the family sought help from a local elected representative, Anand MP Mitesh Patel, the account said. Patel met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi on Monday, February 10 during Parliament session and urged action.

The ministry then alerted the Indian Embassy in Baku and launched Operation Mahisagar, the account said. Embassy teams located the couple and freed them within 24 hours, bringing them safely to the embassy.

As of February 12, 2026, Dhruv and Deepika remained at the embassy while legal proceedings were under way to facilitate their return to India, the account said. The report did not describe the legal process in Azerbaijan in detail.

Patel publicly credited the Ministry of External Affairs and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the effort. He also issued a warning aimed at young people in his constituency who may consider irregular migration routes.

“I would like to appeal to the youth of Anand not to try to go abroad through such agents. Rather, work here. You will get the best opportunities here (in Gujarat),” Patel said.

He described the government’s effort as working “very hard to bring them alive.”

The case drew attention because it unfolded in Azerbaijan, which the account described as a key transit hub for donkey routes to the United States. Such routes typically involve irregular travel across multiple countries and reliance on smugglers or intermediaries, often with shifting plans and repeated handoffs.

The account said contact with an agent initiated the trip and set the couple on a route that ran through major Indian cities before they reached Baku. Once there, the instruction to switch off phones effectively isolated them from family, a control tactic that can leave travelers unable to signal distress or verify where they are.

That isolation can also make families more vulnerable to pressure, especially when kidnappers provide proof of life through calls or video, or threaten violence to force immediate payment. In this case, the kidnappers used WhatsApp to show the assault and paired it with threats of killing and organ-harvesting, the report said.

Operation Mahisagar, as described in the account, centered on urgent diplomatic and consular intervention once Indian authorities became aware of the situation. It involved coordination between the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Baku, and it culminated in the couple being moved to the embassy.

Embassies can provide consular assistance and a protected location for citizens in distress, but they cannot independently override the host country’s legal processes. The report said Dhruv and Deepika remained at the embassy on February 12 while legal proceedings moved forward, a phrase that commonly signals coordination with local authorities on investigations, documentation and exit permissions.

The account also laid out an investigation picture that included payments to the agent and a suspected network operating across borders. Dhruv Patel and Deepika Patel made payments to the agent before travel, the report said, and their family arranged funds under duress after the abduction, including a component paid in cryptocurrency.

Gujarat Police launched a manhunt for five Mumbai agents, the account said. The kidnappers were linked to a gang led by Pawan Rocky and an Iranian national identified as “Baba Khan,” with prior abductions in Gujarat’s Mansa region, it added.

Smuggling and kidnapping networks often function through distributed roles, with recruiters, handlers and enforcers operating in different places and using different identities or aliases. In such cases, a traveler may only know the first point of contact, while the people controlling the next stage of the journey remain unknown until contact is cut off or demands escalate.

The report described how demands can rise after travel begins, leaving families feeling trapped between continuing payments and fearing for the lives of relatives held abroad. It also highlighted how a transit-country setting can complicate outcomes even after a rescue, because travelers and facilitators may have violated immigration rules along the way.

Azerbaijan’s appearance in this case also underscored how routes can shift as facilitators adapt to enforcement and border controls. Those changes can increase vulnerability by adding unfamiliar jurisdictions, new intermediaries and additional points where travelers can be detained, defrauded, or subjected to violence.

The Ministry of External Affairs has issued advisories against illegal migration agents and cited similar cases in Iran and Mali, the report said. Such advisories typically warn that unregistered agents may make promises they cannot fulfill, and that irregular routes can lead to detention, extortion or abandonment in foreign countries.

Public warnings often emphasize basic checks that prospective travelers can control before leaving home. That includes verifying the identity and registration status of anyone offering immigration or overseas placement services, and refusing instructions that cut off communication or require unexplained payments after departure.

The account of Dhruv Patel and Deepika Patel also illustrated how quickly control can shift once a phone goes dark and an itinerary becomes opaque. Families can lose the ability to confirm location, confirm safe housing, or contact local authorities directly, while kidnappers and intermediaries can exploit that uncertainty.

The “donkey route,” as described in the account, generally implies irregular migration via multiple countries and smugglers, rather than a single, lawful trip with valid entry permission. Each additional border crossing adds risk, because travelers may depend on new facilitators, face document manipulation, or be forced to accept sudden rerouting.

Those risks can compound through debt pressure as well. Even when a traveler leaves voluntarily, the financial commitments made to smugglers and agents can create conditions that resemble coercion, because backing out may mean losing large sums while still being stranded far from home.

For readers weighing travel or relocation plans, the case serves as a reminder to treat any promise of U.S. entry outside official channels as a warning sign. The report described a journey aimed at illegal entry, and it showed how quickly that goal exposed the couple to isolation, kidnapping and threats.

Safer alternatives generally require going through legal pathways and vetted routes, rather than relying on an agent who controls communications and demands escalating payments after departure. The report did not detail any specific U.S. visa options, but the contrast between lawful travel and smuggling routes was central to the warning from officials.

Even when someone believes they are headed toward work or family in the United States, irregular routes can leave them at the mercy of criminal groups and at risk of detention in transit countries. The report also indicated that, after rescue, return can still depend on local legal proceedings.

In Anand district, the family’s decision to contact MP Mitesh Patel became the turning point that triggered escalation to central authorities, the account said. Patel’s meeting with Jaishankar in New Delhi on February 10 preceded the embassy’s effort in Baku that freed the couple and moved them to safety.

Patel’s public appeal to local youth framed the case as both a rescue and a warning. “I would like to appeal to the youth of Anand not to try to go abroad through such agents. Rather, work here. You will get the best opportunities here (in Gujarat),” he said.