New Delhi (Sputnik) — Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has ensured all help to the young Russian scholar, who ran out of cash and was frantically trying to collect some money in order to reach the Russian consulate in Chennai.
Evangelin — Your country Russia is our time tested friend. My officials in Chennai will provide you all help. https://t.co/6bPv7MFomI
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) 10 октября 2017 г.
32-year-old A. Evangelin Berdnikov was found begging outside the main entrance of a temple in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. After witnessing the rare sight of a foreigner begging for alms, a group of devotees reported the matter to a nearby police station.
“We checked his travel documents, passport, and visa. All documents are perfectly valid. He had spent all his money and was not sure how to reach Chennai,” a police officer said.
According to police, the Russian traveler had arrived in New Delhi on September 8 and reached Tamil Nadu on September 24 with some of his friends. On Tuesday he visited a few temples in Kanchipuram and ran out of cash. He went to some ATMs but failed to withdraw money as the password he entered was reported as wrong by the cash machines.
After several wrong entries, the card was blocked by the bank.
The local cops said they gave him some cash and put him on a suburban train so that he could reach the Russian consulate in Chennai.