India has managed to secure release of two of the four teachers abducted allegedly by the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group in libya. Sources said the Indian Government was negotiating for the release of other two persons as well. So far there has been no demand for ransom.
“Four Indians abducted in libya — I am happy we have been able to secure the release of lakshmikant and Vijay Kumar. Trying for other two,” tweeted External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
“Welcome news from libya. Two of the four detained Indians brought back safely to University of Sirte. Our efforts continue for the remaining two,” tweeted Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The four Indian teachers — Balaram from Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh), Gopi Krishna from Hyderabad, lakshmikant from Raichur (Karnataka) and Vijay Kumar from Kolar near Bengaluru — were believed to have been kidnapped by the ISIS while they were returning to India from Tripoli and Tunis. They were detained at a check point, about 50 km from Sirte. The area is under the control of the IS.
There have been contradicting reports of their kidnapping by the family members with some saying they were picked up from bus and others saying from a taxi. The MEA, through its Head of Mission in Tripoli, is ascertaining the details regarding the incident.
“Two days ago, on July 29 around 11 pm, our Mission in Tripoli came to know that four Indian nationals who were returning to India via Tripoli and Tunis, were detained at a checkpoint approximately 50 kms from Sirte. Three of them were faculty members at the Sirte University and one was working at the Sirte University branch in Jufra. We are in regular touch with the families concerned and all efforts are being made to ensure the well-being and early release of the Indian nationals,” said Swarup.
The kidnapping has left families back home in deep shock. Members of Tiruveedula Gopkrishna’s family in Hyderabad appealed to the Union Government to take immediate steps to secure his release. “I had spoken to him on Wednesday and he told us that he was returning home via Tunis,” said Kalyani, wife of Gopikrishna. “But after that we have not received any call from him. When we were waiting for his arrival home, yesterday we received the information about the kidnapping,” she added. According to the family, Gopikrishna was travelling by bus when the gunmen whisked him and three others away. Old parents of Balram too are worried and anxious about the safety of their son.
The family members of lakshmikantha and Vijaykumar told The Pioneer that a taxi driver called the family from the mobile phone left by one of the professors and said four armed men from IS abducted four Indians. Two abducted are one lakshmikantha from Raichur and Vijaykumar from Kolar.
Ramakrishna, the father of lakshmikantha, said that his son was living in Tripoli teaching in the university for over a decade. He said: “He spoke to us just two days back and said he was heading back to India in a day or two. The taxi driver informed us the four Indians were abducted. We have full faith in Indian Government. I want my son to come back safely. He was not paid the salary for the past three months.”
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh K Rammohan Rao in a letter to Swaraj sought her intervention for the release of the abducted people. Former Karnataka Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda and Union Minister Ananth Kumar also spoke to Swaraj in this regard.
Given the fragile situation in libya, the Indian Government had in July last year issued an advisory asking its citizens to leave the conflict-hit nation.
The latest scare came at a time when already 39 Indians remain missing in Iraq after being taken hostage last year by the IS. To add to Indian worries, several nurses evacuated from Yemen are now trying to go back through different routes despite a fresh advisory from the Government to refrain from travelling to that country. On Friday, Swaraj tweeted: “Many Indian nurses we evacuated from Yemen are going back. That is a cause for worry. Situation not normal and we do not hv (have) Embassy there.”