NEW DELHI/KENDRAPARA:Odia youth Pravas Ranjan Samal, who was kidnapped by ISIS militants in Libya and freed later, arrived in Delhi.
“I express my profound gratitude to the Government of India for its relentless efforts for my safe release”, Pravas said after his arrival in Delhi.
Pravas said he had been working as a biomedical engineer in a hospital in Sirte in Lybia all through the troubled period.
On his arrival in Delhi, Pravas said, “On September 8, some IS terrorists kidnapped me along with other health workers. I had been working in a hospital in Sirte for the last 10 years. Though the town is under IS control, I never expected them to kidnap any health worker. I managed to escape with the help of some locals on September 18. I am grateful to them for my escape. Later, I managed to reach the Indian Embassy in Tripoli”.
Samal was taken hostage on September 8 by the IS terrorists from a hospital in Sirte, the hometown of assassinated Libyan despot Col Gadaffi. He arrived in New Delhi with the help of officials of the Indian embassy in Tripoli.
The villagers and family members of Pravas celebrated his release by bursting crackers and distributing sweets in Bhagabanpur and ancestral village Hantapada. The news about his release brought relief to his family and friends.
Relatives of Pravas had been organising a Puja in the village temple since September 6 for his safe release.
Pravas was a student of Bladevjew High School in Kendrapara town. The students and teachers of the school were also delighted.
“Since September 8, we had been watching the news channels to know about Pravas’s fate. We are eagerly waiting for his arrival in Kendrapara”, said Bikram Samal, Pravas’s brother.
Pravas worked as a bio-medical engineer in IBN hospital at Sirte in Libya. He married a Filipino nurse Rosario in 1997. The couple has two sons. Rosario is staying with her two sons in the Philippines. Rosario was a nurse in a hospital in Tripoli.