Mumbai/Chennai, Apr 27 (PTI) Scores of relieved Indians reached their homes on Thursday after seeing death and destruction from so close in conflict-hit Sudan with many having no plans to return to the African country in the immediate future.

While an Indian Air Force aircraft with 246 Indians landed in Mumbai this afternoon, many among the first batch of 360 people who reached Delhi last night under India's Operation Kaveri evacuation mission, went back to their home towns during the day.

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Divya Rajasekharan, among the first batch of nine Tamils evacuated from Sudan, reached Chennai from Delhi.

"A pair of dress and passport is all that I have now," she said.

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"We thought that the war would end in a couple of days but our miseries increased from the third day," she said.

Rajasekharan's house was located close to the office of the paramilitary head.

"My car, dollars, and other valuables were taken away and on the eighth day of the conflict we became nomads," she said narrating her ordeal and added, "Now I have to start my life from scratch. I have no hopes of returning to Sudan."

In Delhi, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra termed the security situation in Sudan, which has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country's army and a paramilitary group, as very complex, highly volatile and unpredictable and said India's objective is to get every stranded Indian in that country out of harm's way.

He said approximately 1,700 to 2,000 Indian nationals were moved out of the conflict zones and they included the citizens already evacuated out of Sudan as well as those who are on their way to Port Sudan from capital city Khartoum.

Another returnee Sophia, from Vellore, is pregnant. She said they were managing with curd rice and pickles but later got stranded without food and water.

"... The Indian embassy officials contacted us and advised us to reach the outskirts to remain safe till we were taken to port Sudan," she said.

Several Keralite families also reached home from New Delhi.

Biji Alappat, hailing from Kakkanad in Kochi, worked in an oil company in Sudan. His wife Sharon went there with their three children on a five-day vacation.

"We never thought that things would turn out like this. Now, feeling very relieved as we are back home," she told PTI.

Alappat said there was a scarcity in fuel supply and an increase in looting.

"As the tension and violence continue, we do not know when we can go back to Sudan. That is the challenge we are facing," he added.

For Thomas Varghese and Sheelamma Thomas, a couple from Kottarakkara who also reached the state this morning, their return to the home state was "just like a miracle".

"We never thought that we could come back. We have been living there for 18 years and never faced such situations before. Life was so miserable after the war broke out," Thomas told reporters outside Thiruvananthapuram airport.

The wife and daughter of Albert Augustine, a retired soldier from the state who was killed by a stray bullet in Khartoum in Sudan earlier this month, also reached Kerala this morning. After reaching Kochi airport, they left for their hometown Kannur.

Seven persons from Madhya Pradesh who were among the Indians stranded in trouble-torn Sudan have safely reached, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

A C-130J military transport aircraft of the IAF brought to Jeddah 392 Indians from Port Sudan in three flights on Wednesday, a day after an Indian Navy ship rescued 278 citizens from that country. The total number of Indians evacuated from Sudan so far stands at 670, according to official data.

Many state governments have set up control rooms and helpline desks to facilitate the return of Indians from Sudan.

India has set up a transit facility in Jeddah and Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan is overseeing the evacuation mission from the Saudi Arabian city.

Foreign Secretary Kwatra said approximately 3,100 have registered online with the Indian embassy in the Sudanese capital Khartoum while an additional 300 are in touch with the mission. Sudan also has around 900 to 1,000 PIOs (Persons of Indian Origins).

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)