CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: An engineer from Hingoli in Maharashtra, who had been missing in Iran for nearly two months, is lodged in a Tehran jail, reports Prasad Joshi. He made a WhatsApp call to his wife Thursday, informing her that he was likely to be released next Tuesday and would return to India.
Yogesh Panchal, 33, was imprisoned for clicking photographs in Tehran, said Pravin Jethewad, a family friend and social activist.”He spoke to his wife for around a minute-and-half. He told her there was nothing to worry about, and the jail authorities would likely release him Tuesday. He said he would return with help from the Indian embassy.”
“The Iranian authorities were apprehensive about the photographs Yogesh had clicked. The pictures in question were clicked for fun and shared only with family members. We provided WhatsApp messages and the photographs he had sent to his wife as proof,” Jethewad said.
Yogesh has an import-export business of dry fruits and apples, as well as an air cooler manufacturing unit. He had gone to Tehran on a tourist visa on Dec 5 and had been unreachable since December 7.