Two out of four Indians kidnapped by ISIS in Libya, who were freed on July 31, will leave for Tunis on Sunday, from where they will head to India on August 3.
The two freed Indians will leave Sirte for Tunisia’s capital. From Tunis, they will leave for India on Monday.
Four Indian teachers, two from Hyderabad, one from Raichur and another from Bengaluru, were returning to India from Tripoli and Tunis, when they were kidnapped in Libya in an area which is under the control of the Islamic State terror group (IS).
Out of the four abducted in Libya, two Indians named Lakshmikant and Vijay Kumar, were freed on July 31, Sushma Swaraj tweeted
However, so far, there has been no word on other two Indians – Balram Kishan and T Gopikrishna – who apparently remain under the ISIS captivity even as the Indian government is continuing efforts for their release.
Andhra Pradesh`s NRI Affairs Minister Palle Raghunath Reddy said the state government was making efforts with the help of the Indian government and Libya to secure release of Gopikrishna. He said efforts were also being made to contact the officials of Indian embassy in Tripoli.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said on Friday that the Indian mission in Tripoli came to know at 11 pm on July 29 that four Indian nationals who were returning to India via Tripoli and Tunis were “detained” at a check point, 50 km from Sirte.
The Indian government had last year issued an advisory asking its citizens to leave Libya.Libya has been hit by continuing violence with various militias and factions battling it out for control since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011.
The kidnapping comes even as the fate of 39 Indians kidnapped in June 2014 from Mosul in Iraq remains unknown. The 39 were kidnapped by the Islamic State militants. The government maintains the men, all labourers from mostly Punjab, are still alive.
