By The seven Indian nationals kidnapped in Libya last month are released by their abductors and handed over to their employer, the external affairs ministry said on Monday.
The seven men are in healthiness and formalities are being completed to facilitate their return to India, the ministry said during a statement.
The ministry reiterated that a ban on the travel of Indians to Libya, regardless of purpose, has been in situ since May 2016 due to the safety situation there.
The circumstances of the discharge of the seven Indians, including whether any ransom was paid to their abductors, couldn’t immediately be ascertained. It also couldn’t be ascertained who had kidnapped the lads . No group or individual has thus far claimed responsibility.
On October 8, the external affairs ministry confirmed the seven Indians had been abducted at Asshwerif in Libya on September 14, while they were travelling to Tripoli airport to catch a flight back to India. the lads belong to Andhra Pradesh , Bihar, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh , and were working for a construction and oilfield supplies company.
The men were released on Sunday and India’s ambassador to Tunisia, Puneet Roy Kundal, spoke to them on phone after they were handed over by the abductors to the corporate that had employed them, Al Shola Al Mudia.
“All of them are in healthiness and are currently staying within the company’s premises in Brega,” the ministry said.
“We convey our sincere because of the Libyan authorities and therefore the tribal elders from the region for his or her steadfast cooperation in securing the discharge of our nationals unharmed,” it added.
The Indian embassy in Tunisia handles matters associated with the welfare of Indian nationals in Libya. India’s relations with Libya were snapped after the autumn of the Muammar Gaddafi regime in 2011, and both countries currently don’t have a representative in each other’s capitals.
India made an effort to re-establish diplomatic ties when Union minister Kiren Rijiju made a politician visit to Tripoli in May 2018. it had been reported then that there have been some 1,500 Indians who had stayed on in Libya despite advisories issued by the external affairs ministry.
