KOORACHUNDU (KOZHIKODE: ): The fate of IT professional Reji Joseph, a native of Koorachundu in Kozhikode, who went missing in Libya a week ago remains unknown.
According to the latest information passed on by his wife Shinuja from Tripoli, Libya, to his immediate family members here on Wednesday, Reji is in the custody of the ‘government’ for some unknown reasons.
However, it is not yet known whether he is in the custody of the UN-backed Libyan Government or the extremists’ ‘rival government.’
“Our brother is missing since March 31 and his whereabouts are unknown. Reji’s boss Khalid first informed his wife that he was abducted by the militia men fighting the government forces. On Wednesday, Khalid contacted Shinuja and told her that Reji is safe and is in the custody of the Libyan Intelligence Bureau with him being kept at a five-star facility unharmed. However, later we were informed that he is in the custody of the old Libyan Government. Neither his boss nor his wife and three children, who are staying with their friends in Tripoli, could not locate or contact him,” said, Jojo Joseph, brother of Reji.
Reji is an employee of the Al-Diwan Consulting and Information Technology, Tripoli, and was working on a government website project - Civil Registry Authority (CRA). The CRA is engaged in highly confidential works of the UN- backed government, including issuing passports and other documents.
It is learnt that the website of CRA was hacked allegedly by the extremists twice on March 12 and 14, accessing some crucial data.
Joji Joseph, another brother of Reji, said they now suspected a connection between the hacking of the website and Reji going missing. “Reji was the brain behind the CRA website project. After the first hacking incident, the website was restored by him. However, the website was hacked two days later. After this, he told us that there was something wrong and he has stopped going to the office.
“As the website deals with very sensitive information, his boss, who has close ties with the government, asked him to restore the website. It was on his insistence that Reji went to the office on March 31 along with some bodyguards.
“We strongly believe that there is a link between the hacking incidents and Reji going missing.
“The Ministry of External Affairs has already intervened and we are hoping for his early and safe release,” said, Joji.
