NEW DELHI: Two more Indians, who were working in a hospital in the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Sirte, have been abducted. This brings the number of Indian hostages in Libya to four with two teachers already in IS custody for about 50 days.
It is learnt that one of the two Indians, Pravash Ranjan Samal, had given a written undertaking to the Indian embassy earlier this year, claiming that he wanted to stay despite advisories and risk. Ironically, the Odisha native was the chief coordinator for Indian nationals in the Libyan city, helping the Tripoli-based embassy officials convince others to leave the conflict zone. The other Indian has been identified by MEA as Ramamurthy Kosanam, a doctor from Andhra Pradesh. Both the Indians were long-term residents — Samal had been in Libya since 2002, while Kosanam has lived in Sirte since 1999.