External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday said that two Indians who were abducted earlier this month in South Sudan have been released. Midhun Ganesh and Edward Ambrose, both petroleum engineers from Tamil Nadu, are currently in the Indian embassy at Khartoum, reported PTI.
Dar Petroleum Operating Company’s Production Operator Ajay Raja announced the news of their release on Thursday night on Twitter when he thanked Swaraj for her help. It was Raja who had appealed to Swaraj for her help a day after the two were kidnapped.
Swaraj thanked the Indian ambassador for his efforts. “I am happy to inform about the release of two Indian nationals Midhun and Edward who were abducted in South Sudan....I appreciate the efforts of Indian Ambassador to South Sudan Srikumar Menon for the release of Indian nationals,” she said on Twitter.
Ganesh, Ambrose and another person from Pakistan were abducted by rebels from near their workplaces on March 8. Pakistani national Ayaz Hussein Jamali has also been released. “Following requests from Indian and Pakistani governments, the Sudanese and Ethiopian governments coordinated together to secure the release of the three oil workers,” said Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service, according to PTI.
The African country has been embroiled in a civil war. Last month, a man from Karnataka, who used to work at a drilling company in South Sudan, was killed in the capital city of Juba. He was the first Indian victim in the country’s civil war. Swaraj had then said that her ministry would try its best to bring back the body of Syed Farooq Basha after his family had sought her help.
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