Sushma Swaraj tries to help kidnapped man in Serbia, later finds video fake

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday discovered to that a "kidnapped" man in Serbia who she tried to help had staged his own abduction.

Hours after she responded to a call for rescuing an Indian allegedly abducted and tortured in Serbia, she said the kidnapping was "stage-managed" and the video "fake".

Swaraj, known to quickly help Indians in distress inforeign countries, intervened after she was approached by anetizen who tweeted,"@SushmaSwaraj please help my brother his life in big trouble somebody kidnap in Serbia country and ask him send the money unless we kill him."

The video accompanying the tweet showed a shirtless manwith his hands tied being beaten up with a baton. She later tweeted, "Vinay Mahajan has been found and is in safe custody of Serbian authorities.

"Mr Luther - This is because of the agent who sent himthere. This agent deserves exemplary punishment.@ProtectorGenGOI," she said in a series of tweets.

She, however, took to twitter late in the night, saying "Rajiv - I have all the facts before me. Your brother was notabducted. "He stage managed his own abduction and the video isfake," she said.

Reacting to a separate complaint of nearly 500 Indianworkers being deprived of salaries in Bahrain, she tweeted,"Indian Embassy in Bahrain is seized of this matterand will help them."