The Ministry of External Affairs has almost ruled out the hand of Boko Haram, the dreaded Islamic extremist group based in north-eastern Nigeria, in the abduction of Visakhapatnam-based civil engineer Mangipudi Sai Srinivas and his colleague Anish Sharma.
Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj called up Mr. Srinivas’ wife Lalita and reportedly negated the Boko Haram angle and said that the kidnapping was allegedly done by some local gang for ransom.
Assurance
Ms. Swaraj had assured the wife of the civil engineer that efforts were on to get to the gang and negotiate an early release.
The Minister informed us that efforts were on at the government levels to secure an early release of my husband and his colleague and the embassies of the both the countries were working on the issue, Ms. Lalita told The Hindu .
The group responsible for the kidnapping has so for not contacted anybody or communicated their demands.
Earlier instances
Earlier, there were two such instances when Indians working at Dangote Cement Plc plant in Gboko, a town in the Benue State of North-central Nigeria, were kidnapped and were later released after ransom was paid.
According to Ms. Lalita, the company officials were ready to pay ransom if needed to secure her husband’s release.
