The family of Lakshmikanth, who was >kidnapped allegedly by Islamic State in Libya, was relieved on Friday evening after a call from the External Affairs Ministry.
Mr. Lakshmikanth’s wife, Pratibha, said her husband and three others were safe on the outskirts of Sirte and were on their way back to India. “An official from the Ministry called around 6 p.m. and told me that my husband was released and would soon be brought to India,” she told The Hindu at her residence here on Friday evening. Within 15 minutes, Mr. Lakshmikanth called her.
Soon, sweets were distributed and relatives and friends told of the glad news.
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“I am very thankful to the Government of India for its sincere efforts to release my son,” Ramakrishna, father of Lakshmikanth, said. “We won’t allow my son to go out of India again.”
Lakshmikanth, 37, along with his three Indian colleagues, were kidnapped at a checkpoint near Sirte, Libya, around 4.25 p.m. local time (7.55 p.m. IST ) on Wednesday, when he was returning in a taxi from the Indian Embassy at Tripoli. Lakshmikanth had been working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sirte since September 2009. He had come to Raichur last August, along with his six-month pregnant wife. He will be seeing his daughter for the first time when he returns to India.