Kumar’s wife Sunitha said she was confident of her husband coming back, but the incident had “hurt” them and they were anxious about his safety as well of three others who were held captive.
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“Our family from Raichur thanks the government, we are grateful to all those who have put in their efforts”.
“Four Indians abducted in Libya – I am happy we have been able to secure the release of Lakshmikant and Vijay Kumar”.
Speaking to the newspaper, Vijay Kumar, who is a faculty with Sirte, University Libya said that he had initially been locked up, along with three others, in a tiny dark room. “I and Lakshmikanth are safe here (Libya)”, Vijay Kumar, one of the teachers, said over phone. “But we have a lot of hope”, T Murali Krishna, brother of T Gopikrishna, told Times of India.
Mr. Vijaykumar’s parents – M. Srinivas and Rathnamma – who went to Bengaluru on Saturday in anticipation of their son’s arrival, returned to Bangarpet on Sunday, Ms. Sudhakumari said.
The four Indians were abducted on their way to the airport on July 29, when they were heading to India for their annual vacation.
Gopikrishna, an assistant professor at University of Sirte in Libya, is a native of Tekkali in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, while Balram, an English Professor, also works at the same University and hails from Karimnagar district of Telangana.
Accordingly, Lakshmikant spoke in Arabic to media here to convey the message and requested for release of Gopikrishna and Balram. His wife said she had sleepless nights.
It also said that the Chief Minister has spoken to Ramakrishna, father of Lakshmikant over phone and has shared happiness about the release. The kidnappers told Vijay and Laxmikanth that they would like to see their passports.
“One person walked into our room and asked for our names, religion and profession”. They further said that since all of them had helped educate Libyan children, they will not be blindfolded or harmed. Since we were non-Muslims they detained us in camps and they did not do anything. This was their last statement. “The other two are still under detention”, he added. “I am in touch with my husband on a private number given to me by him, but as there are mobile network problems there it’s hard to keep in constant touch over the phone”.
“I would like to thank everyone who is involved in our release; the government and the students”, he said.
4 Indians were kidnapped by suspected ISIS terrorists few days back of which two have been released. They were abducted near a checkpost, around 50 km from Sirte.
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They had been working at the Sirte University and have been in Libya for over a year, add reports.
