Trapped in Dubai, 84 Pune students among 111 airlifted back to India

• 84 Pune students, 20 seniors evacuated from Dubai to Mumbai
• Evacuation followed airspace closures after Iran's strikes
• Families faced high costs for hotels and last-minute tickets

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Amid escalating tensions and airspace closures in West Asia, 84 university students from Pune and more than 20 senior citizens stranded in Dubai were reportedly evacuated on a chartered flight that landed in Mumbai on Tuesday, in an operation facilitated by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The students, all from Indira University, Pune, had departed for Dubai on February 23 for an educational tour and were scheduled to return on March 1. However, their return was thrown into disarray after their commercial flight was abruptly cancelled — a cascading effect of Iran's retaliatory strikes against US-Israeli targets, which led several nations in the region to shutter their airspace, Mid-Day reported.

According to passengers on board, the special flight was arranged directly by Shinde. Two Star Air chartered aircraft were deployed to bring back a total of 164 Maharashtra citizens from the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, including the 84 students from Indira School of Business Studies.

District authorities confirmed that 111 of the 184 Pune district residents who had been trapped in Dubai had reached home safely. "The flight time of 19 citizens has been changed and the process of bringing back 54 citizens is underway," Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi said in a press note.

However, the relief of arrival has been tempered by financial distress for several families. Many of those who remained stranded were cited by The Indian Express as saying that they were forced to pay lakhs of rupees in unforeseen hotel accommodation costs, in addition to shelling out exorbitant sums for last-minute, overpriced tickets to secure their return.

The evacuation comes against the backdrop of a region-wide security alert. The Government of India and the Maharashtra government have issued urgent advisories for Indian citizens residing in multiple West Asian nations, including Palestine (Ramallah), Qatar (Doha), Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), Israel (Tel Aviv), Iran (Tehran), Iraq (Baghdad), Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Jordan and the UAE (Abu Dhabi).

Authorities have urged nationals to remain "extremely alert," avoid unnecessary movement, and strictly adhere to directives from local administrations and Indian embassies. "Citizens should not believe in rumors," Dudi cautioned, while also urging Maharashtrians abroad to maintain peace and patience and rely only on official information.

For emergency assistance, the government has activated 24x7 helplines at Indian embassies across the region. Locally, the District Disaster Management Control Room in Pune can be reached at 020-26123371, 26133522 or 26133522.