Libya abduction: ISIS hostage reunites with family

Bengaluru: Prof Vijay Kumar landed at the Kempegowda International Airport around 7 pm as his flight was ahead of schedule. Family members, including his wife Sunitha Vijay Kumar, sons, Suhas and Siddharth, brothers and sisters, and other relatives were seen eagerly waiting for him at the arrival bay of the airport.

Immigration, routine screenings and other formalities delayed his meeting with his loved ones by about an hour. Officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Intelligence Bureau were seen with Prof Vijay Kumar. Security personnel and police officials who had formed a ring around Prof. Vijay Kumar had a tough time managing the crowd. He was taken in a government jeep with police escort along with his wife from the airport around 8.30 pm.

“Before they released me and Mr Laksmikanth, they told us that they were letting go of us as we taught their students at Sirte University,” said Prof. Kumar. “The leader of the militant group, Sheikh, told me that I should go back to India and follow Islam. That was his last conversation with me.”

He said, “A few of my former students had joined ISIS. I saw and spoke to them. But they were in no position to help me as they were under the command of ‘Sheik’.” Asked whether he would return to Libya, he said, “I have come back for good. I am not going back. I had already decided that this was my final exit.”

Other hostages will be free soon

Prof Vijay Kumar, who arrived in Bengaluru from Libya after being released by ISIS militants, on Tuesday said, “The other two Indian teachers – T. Gopikrishna, and Balaram – are still under the detention of ISIS men. The Sheikh told us that they will be released soon after their credentials are verified. I have given all the information and all the contact details of my colleagues and students to Indian Embassy officials in Tripoli and Mr Anil Wadhwa, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

He said, “The other two teachers are still in captivity as they taught at a college in Jufrah, which is around 250 km from Sirte. Though institutions at Jufrah come under Sirte University, the ISIS militants did not recognise them and wanted to confirm their identities. Recently, clashes had broken out in Jufrah over Sirte University and one person had been shot dead.

The militants wanted to know whether the two Indian professors were involved in that incident. Sirte University officials formed a three-member team and they have convinced the ISIS men that the two other Indian professors too can be released.”