Zepto techie stranded in Dubai amid Middle East tensions, books Rs 40,000 flight from Muscat to Bengaluru

Kumari was visiting Dubai when US Israel strikes hit Iran. (Image credit: X/@kritikatwtss)

A Zepto tech employee, stranded in Dubai since February 28 after military tensions escalated in the Middle East, has now reached Oman's capital and expects to return home shortly.

Kritika Kumari was on a trip to Dubai when the US and Israeli forces carried out coordinated airstrikes in Iran. In response, Iran soon launched with large-scale missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and several Gulf countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Dubai, long seen as a safe hub in the Middle East, also came under threat during Iran’s retaliatory attacks. The strikes forced authorities to close the airspace over the city, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

On February 28, Kritika Kumari, a software developer at Zepto, shared on X that she was in Dubai and concerned about returning to India. “The last attack that happened was just 4.5 km from where I am staying. Totally tensed and stressed on how I will go back home safe or if I will be able to go back,” she said.

She has been posting updates from Dubai, showing empty streets, fighter jets in the sky and glimpses from her hotel.

Kumari joined many stuck Indians in looking for options to return, with several travelling by road to Oman to board flights to India.

The Zepto techie shared on Wednesday that she had made it to Oman and had booked a flight to Bengaluru.

She also said that many tourists had contacted her about returning to India and described how she reached Muscat in Oman.

Hi folks, I received multiple queries on how to come back to India via Oman. My guy was already here with his office colleague; they all have Emirates IDs. I was the only one not without one. We were talking about how we can go via Muscat, Oman, to India, and thus on Sunday…

— Kritika kumari (@kritikatwtss) March 4, 2026

“On Sunday night, 1st March, I applied for an e-visa for Oman from the Atlys app,” she wrote. “The visa arrived Tuesday afternoon, though it was late by 4-5 hours.”

“We were actually considering all the possibilities – should we stay or not – but yesterday’s incident triggered it, and we thought to get out of Dubai,” she said.

She said that she travelled with four others and that all services were arranged through an agent.

According to her, the agent dropped them at the Oman border, where she completed immigration formalities. From there, a bus transports between the UAE and Oman, costing 50 dirhams each.

In her post on X, Kumari said taking the bus turned out to be a waste of time and money. “We took it, but got off the bus and instead took a cab to get out. Immigration was faster when coming via car/taxi; this was 500 dirham for 5 people.”

“Overall, the cab took 3.5k dirham for 5 people for the cab,” she said.

Kumari concluded her post by sharing that she had secured a flight from Muscut to Bengaluru for Rs 40,000, set to leave on Thursday morning.