Family members of Dr Ramamurthy Kosanam, one of the Indians recently abducted in Libya, are set to meet chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday and request him to urge the Centre to ensure his safe release.
The family has been spending very anxious moments ever since news broke that the other Indian abducted along with him, Pravash Ranjan Samal, has escaped from his captors. There has been no communication yet from the ministry of external affairs on whether Dr Kosanam is safe.
Both Dr Kosanam and Samal were reportedly picked up by Islamic militants on September 8 from Sirte’s Ibn-e-Sina hospital where they worked.
Dr Kosanam(60), who hails from Eluru town in Andhra Pradesh, has been serving in Libya since 1999. His family said he was making plans to leave the strife-torn country and return permanently to India.
“My husband went back there in August last year and was to come home last month. But he was asked to stay back for the Ramzan month as his services were required. Thereafter he was held up there with not much communication. We were shocked to see his name in the news. We are extremely worried and we want the government to act with compassion and bring my husband back at once,” said his wife Annapurna Bhavani.
Two other persons from Andhra Pradesh, Tiruveedula Gopikrishna and Chiluveru Balaram Kishan Balaram, too are held captive by extremists in Libya. They were taken hostage in July and officially there is no news yet on their whereabouts.
{{/usCountry}}Two other persons from Andhra Pradesh, Tiruveedula Gopikrishna and Chiluveru Balaram Kishan Balaram, too are held captive by extremists in Libya. They were taken hostage in July and officially there is no news yet on their whereabouts.
{{/usCountry}}“When the two Telugus were abducted we were very scared but dad called us then saying he is safe and would return to India soon," Dr Kosanam's son Pavan Manikanta Kumar said.
In Delhi, the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan additional resident commissioner Arja Srikanth told Hindustan Times that the abducted Telugus are safe and that efforts are on to bring them back.
“We are in touch with Indian officials in Tripoli. The problem is that all communication networks and roads are destroyed in that area making it difficult to reach them,” Srikanth said.
Large swathes of Libya and Syria are under the control of the extremist Islamic State and information from the area is hard to come by.