External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said the government has rescued three Indians among 10 girls who were held captive by a crime syndicate in Kenya’s Mombasa. The seven other girls are from Nepal.

“We have rescued three Indian girls from Kenya...their passports and phones were taken and they were held captive in Mombasa,” the external affairs minister said on Twitter. All the girls have been flown back, the minister said.

The group was involved in trafficking of girls, said Swaraj. She added that the ministry has shared details of the trafficking racket with the Punjab government “so that a case is registered against the agents and [the] people involved”.

She thanked Indian High Commissioner in Kenya Suchitra Durai and the local police. “I appreciate the efforts of Ms. Suchitra Durai, Indian High Commissioner in Kenya. Our First Secretary Karan Yadav deserves a special mention. We thank the Kenyan Police for their help,” she said.