Hailed for coming to the aid of Indians in distress abroad, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday discovered to her chagrin 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  aid the kidnapping was “stage-managed” and the video “fake”.

Here is what she tweeted:

Swaraj, known to quickly help Indians in distress in foreign countries, intervened after she was approached by a netizen who tweeted:

The video accompanying the tweet showed a shirtless man with his hands tied being beaten up with a baton.

She later tweeted, 

“Mr Luther – This is because of the agent who sent him there. This agent deserves exemplary punishment. @ProtectorGenGOI,” she said in a series of tweets.