Spending every minute in terror, say Somalia captives

Spending every minute in terror, say Somalia captives

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, July 10: The eight Vizagites, seven Indians and a Nepali a resident of Vizag for the past decade, held captive in Somalia are living in constant fear amid a lorry load of bullets, ten sophisticated guns and two armed men. They are terrified as they cannot assess the gunmen’s next move. They had to depend upon the starch to satisfy their hunger. Speaking exclusively to Deccan Chronicle on phone from Somalia, the skipper of the crew S A Raju said that they were sent to work on this trawler by Pramod Ranjan of Chennai and Murali Krishna of Visakhapatnam. They were not provided proper food, water and medical facilities for the past 10 months. He said that twater was provided in diesel drums, which was not at all potable. The gunmen often opened fire in air if the captives were reluctant regarding food, water and medicines.“Shut up if u want to drink this water drink, otherwise die, these are the words we had to hear daily,” Riyaz a engineer in the crew said in a distressed mood. According to them they are one and half mile away from the actual shore. “ We cannot run away from here, we totally confused,” Raju said. The captives tried to speak to Pramod Ranjan but had to hear the same old dialogues of negotiations from him. “ We called up Pramod many times, but he never tried to call us back,” Raju said.To add to their misery, the captive crew had to daily bail out the water from the trawlers as their trawlers has holes, and if this situation continued they had to face a major problem of sinking. They are forced to cook their food with coal even though the captives warned the gunmen that the trawler may catch fire. They also said that 2 of the captives who had been working for two years were not paid a single rupee and similar was the plight of the other captives who were working for 10 months.Raju and Riyaz said that the eight were held captive in two fishing trawlers MF Nekkanti I and II. They said that they received two calls from the police of Visakhapatnam. The armed men belong to Abdullah Ali Mohammed of Dubai, they added. Raju pleaded with the government to help them come out of the situation. The Police Commissioner, V S K Kaumudi said, "We have already informed the State Home Department and the Central Government about the case and we have also done some local enquiries. We have tried to contact the captives. The Special Branch of Police are looking into the case.

Seven Vizagites held captive in Somalia

Seven Vizagites held captive in Somalia

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, July 7: S Srinivas a second year B Tech student is anxiously waiting to see his father who has been away since October 2004. A private agency at Somalia, details not clear, are holding his father Sivakoti Appalaraju along with other six persons belonging to Visakhapatnam. All the family members of the other crew are in the same state of shock. "Since there is no law and order in Somalia, my father's life might fall in danger if I speak to the media," Srinivas said while revealing facts reluctantly.S Appala Raju, Chepalli Appanna, Raiyaz Ali Mohammed, Perla Venkanna, S Ravi Kumar, S Rambabu, K Thathalu who went to Somalia to work for a fishing trawler have been held captive by a private agency since January, 2005. Appalaraju, who used to work for a fishing firm in Visakhapatnam, was employed as Skipper for a fishing vessel MFV Nakanti by a Dubai based Coral Coast Shipping and Trading through one Mr Pramod of M/s Oreintal links Pvt Ltd, Chennai on September 12, 2004 along with the other six members. He along with six crew members joined the vessel in the 1st week of October 2004 and carried out fishing operations at Somalia. From day one of sailing, the family of the crew were in contact with them and everything was going smooth.Ratna Kumari, wife of the Skipper Mr S A Raju said that her husband informed her in January that their vessel was forced to anchor at outer sea by a private agency which caught the vessel along with crew. Victims informed their families that they were running short of food, drinking water and medical care and their only companions were the gunmen guarding them (it is a practice in Somalia that trawlers are guarded by gunmen). The families claimed that there might be a dispute between the agency which captured them and Coral Coast Shipping and Trading, Dubai. The only answer the victims’ families have been receiving whenever they tried to contact Mr Pramod of Chennai, was that he was negotiating with the agency since January.Here these families are worried about the crew’s lives. Ratna Kumari is able to be in touch with her husband on cell phone now and then as the armed guards can't comprehend Telugu. “ My husband is in a confused state as he is not able to understand what is happening around him,” Ratna Kumari told this correspondent. She also said that for the past 10 months her husband hadn't been paid the salary of $1,500 per month that was fixed by the employer.Same is the situation with the other six families. They are pleading with the Central government to intervene in the matter and take necessary action to get the captivated released as early as possible. The spouses of the captivated recently gave a representation to the District Collector who forwarded the same to the city Police Commissioner VSK Kaumudi. They say that their families would be orphaned if anything went wrong. When contacted Mr Kaumudi he said that he was sending the representation and case details to the State Home Department and they would inturn contact the Central Government to take up the issue with the Somalian government.