Parents of the Indian hostage heaved a sigh of relief on seeing visuals of their son, Viswakanth Ankireddy, running out of the Lindt café soon after the Australian police stormed the place.
Ankireddy Eswara Reddy, father of 32-year-old Viswakanth, told The Hindu that his daughter-in-law sent SMS about his safety and a little later Infosys called him to confirm that he came out of the café safely. Earlier during the hostage crisis, there was steady stream of visitors, mediapersons and friends to Mr. Eswara Reddy’s house at Sampath Nagar.
“I received a phone call at 9.15 am from an Infosys staffer who spoke in Telugu. He told us that Viswakanth is among those who were held hostage in Sydney. I spoke to Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao and confirmed about the incident and then contacted daughter-in-law Shilpa who is staying with her five-year-old daughter Akshaya in Australia. We told them not to worry,” Mr. Eswara Reddy said.
Even as Mr. Reddy faced a volley of questions from the media, he showed no signs of anxiety or fear. “We know that there are just two gunmen who are holding 30 persons as hostages. I am confident that the security forces will overpower them secure the release of our son,” he said.
A software engineer, he has been working with Infosys and was heading a project for Westpack Bank at Sydney. The family resides at Homequest Vista in Sydney.
An outstanding student who quickly made a mark in the IT industry, Mr. Viswakanth did his schooling at Korukonda Sainik School, Intermediate at Siddartha College in Guntur before graduating in distinction from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Pilani. He worked in a couple of IT firms in Hyderabad before being employed by Infosys.
