On March 26, a marine engineer hailing from Varanasi was kidnapped by pirates near Nigeria.
Santosh Kumar Bhardwaj, who worked as third engineer in Singapore-based shipping company Transocean Limited, was kidnapped by the pirates along with four colleagues from different countries.
The incident took place when the five were at sea aboard the ship Sampatiki, which was around 30 nautical miles off Nigeria’s capital Lagos.
After a month of waiting, it has emerged that Santosh has been rescued.
Foreign affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted:
I am extremely happy to inform that Shri Santosh Bhardwaj has been rescued from pirates in Nigeria.pic.twitter.com/a4ikQUe9y8
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 11, 2016
Earlier, the engineer’s father Virendra Prasad Thakur told Hindustan Times that he had received the news of the kidnapping from the shipping company officials over the phone.
Santosh’s wife, Kanchan, even wrote to PM Narendra Modi, who represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, to ensure her husband is rescued.
At that time, Sushma Swaraj had tried to console the family:
श्री संतोष भरद्वाज का अपहरण समुंद्री लुटेरों द्वारा किया गया है.@DineshMishraNBT
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 3, 2016
बहन आप खाना नहीं छोड़ें। मैं आपके पति को छुड़वाने में कोई कसर नहीं छोडूंगी.pic.twitter.com/a4ikQUe9y8 https://t.co/3sETBBiYvu
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 3, 2016
