Two Indian nationals freed from IS dungeons in Sirte
The Indian Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, said on Thursday that two Indian teachers: T Gopalakrishna and C Balaramkishan, who were abducted in Libya last year, have been rescued.
Both teachers, along with two other colleagues, were kidnapped in July 2015 by a group in Libya which owes its allegiance to IS.
The other two, Laxmikant Ramakrishna (37) of Raichur and Mulbagil Vijay Kumar (56) of Bengaluru, were rescued just days after the kidnapping.
All of the four Indian nationals used to work for University of Sirte in northern Libya and were on their way back to India when they were kidnapped at a checkpoint about 50 km from Sirte. They were en-route to the Tripoli airport in a car.
The teachers were among hundreds of Indians who were evacuated from Libya in August 2014 when tension rose there. However, they had gone back to the university after it was re-opened in September, 2014 and when IS seized the city of Sirte, they tried to escape to Tripoli and got kidnapped.
How to submit an Op-Ed: Libyan Express accepts opinion articles on a wide range of topics. Submissions may be sent to oped@libyanexpress.com. Please include ‘Op-Ed’ in the subject line.
- Libya’s HCS invites applicants for key state roles - December 31, 2023
- UK calls on Iran to prevent escalation in Israel-Hamas conflict - November 05, 2023
- Libyan Interior Minister: Immigrant shelter costs a fortune - November 05, 2023