An abducted Indian in Sudan contacts his family
July 6, 2008 (KOCHI, India) — An Indian oil worker abducted in central Sudan has succeeded to reach his family by phone reassuring them that he is in good conditions, said a news report published by the Hindu.
Four Indian oil technicians and their Sudanese driver have been abducted between the Neem and Heglig oil fields in South Kordofan, near the disputed Abyei on May 13. The Indian Embassy in Khartoum believed “local tribes” were responsible.
Confirming that he is alive, P.K. Abhilash phoned his parents at Gothuruthu near Kochi, in southern India on Wednesday. This was the first time that Abhilash could contact his family since he was captured 53 days ago.
Abhilash’s father Kunjachan told The Hindu that his son sounded tired. But the family, which has been in angst all these days, was relieved that he was alive.
He told his parents that he was being held captive in a jungle in southern Sudan by rebels. They had demanded ransom from the company for which he had worked. He had been told by the captors that he would not be freed without their getting the sum they had demanded, the newspaper reported.
The Indian foreign ministry said two days ago it was exerting all efforts to secure the release of four Indian nationals.
Last month, one of the four kidnapped Indians escaped and walked for days through scrubland and forest to safety, returned to India with the help of local police and Indian diplomats in Khartoum.
The Indian oil technicians work for Petro Energy Contracting Services, which does work for the Greater Nile Petroleum Operation — a consortium of four companies led by China’s CNPC, India’s ONGC, Malaysia’s Petronas and Sudan’s state-owned Sudapet.
(ST)
Lago Gatjal Riaka
An abducted Indian in Sudan calls contacts his family
Correction please!! Neem & Heglig oil fields are not in southern Kordofan geogrphically. That would make it sound like they are located in northern Sudan. Just to remind you my friend, these two oil fields are in the territory of southern Sudan.
You indicated that the abductee was abducted by local tribes who you refer to as local people somewhere in southern Sudan. It would not make much sense to claim that the two oil fields are located in northern Sudan and the local people who live around the area are southern Sudanese. That would be contradiction.
What I’m trying to say is that the two oil fields are located in southern Sudan geographically. To claim that they are located in southern Kordofan would qualify as a political propaganda.