PM Narendra Modi with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in New Delhi. (PTI Photo/File)Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Tuesday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to facilitate the release of 16 Indian sailors, including three Keralites, held hostage in Equatorial Guinea.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Vijayan pointed out that a Norwegian vessel was arrested by a Guinea naval ship in international waters on August 12. “Twenty-six seafarers, including 16 Indians, were being held hostage. Three of them are from Kerala. The vessel has been held unlawfully since 14 August,” he said in the letter.
Vijayan, in his letter, pointed out that the crew of the ship did not engage in any unlawful activities and their shipping agent was ready to pay the fine to facilitate the release of the sailors. “The shipping firm paid the fine on September 28, but the ship and its crew are still being detained under arrest in Guinea.”
CM Vijayan pointed out that the government is concerned over the unforeseen delay in freeing the seafarers and further delay would make their life unsafe.
Meanwhile, Vijith V Nair, one of the seafarers detained in the Central African nation, said that all the detained persons were dumped in a room, which is guarded by armed men. In a video released to the media, Nair, a native of Kollam in Kerala, pleaded for government intervention. “We were all taken from the ship and lodged in a room, which is locked from outside. Armed men are standing guard outside,” he said.