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One hostage returns from Sudan

KOCHI: The news of the escape of one of the four Indian oil technicians held hostage by Sudanese tribesmen has unnerved the parents and relatives of P.K. Abhilash of Gothuruth here who is among the three remaining hostages.

Mohammed Aseeb Shaik from Maharashtra—who along with Abhilash and two other Indians and their Sudanese driver, was kidnapped on May 13 by Sudanese tribesmen—was found by the wayside on Wednesday morning. He was taken to the base camp of the company for which the four worked. Shaik was unharmed and was in good shape, though he could not speak because of the shocking ordeal.

It was unclear if Shaik was released from captivity or he had escaped. Abhilash’s father, Mr. Kunjachan, told The Hindu that the family was now more worried about the 27-year-old welder’s life. If Mr. Shaik had escaped by hoodwinking his captors, Mr. Kunjachan feared, the other three might face the wrath of the kidnappers and further complicate their release. He said the Indian embassy in Khartoum had been expecting that all the four would be released shortly and that the family had been awaiting the good news when the report of Mr. Shaik’s escape arrived on Thursday.

The two other Indians held hostages along with Mr. Abhilash were Biplab Biswas from West Bengal and Surjeet Singh from Punjab. The four, who worked for the Indian-owned Sudanese company Petro Energy Contracting Services, were kidnapped from the oil-rich Kordofan region bordering the violence-ridden Darfur. Petro Energy Contracting Services, which employs about 75 Indians, provides services to Greater Nile Petroleum Operations Company, which is a consortium of India’s ONGC Videsh, China’s CNPC, Malaysia’s Petronas and Sudan’s Sudapet.

This is the first time that Indians are kidnapped in Sudan. Several foreign oil workers, mainly Chinese, had been kidnapped before by Darfur rebels but all of them were released. Mr. Abhilash, a welder, has been in Sudan for a year. He had planned to visit home this month.

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