Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has taken up the cudgels for Non-Resident Indians, including Keralites, stranded in various countries for some reason or the other.
Mr. Chandy submitted the details of these NRIs when he met Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj during his short trip to Delhi on Thursday. He drew Ms. Swaraj’s attention to the plight of seven Indians, including two Keralite sailors, who have been held hostage by Somalian Pirates since September 28, 2010. The two Keralites are George Joseph, First Engineer, hailing from Ernakulam, and Unnikrishnan Bhaskaran, second officer, hailing from Pathanamthitta. He said the NRIs have been held hostage on a ship named Asphalt Venture, managed by OMCI Ship Management, Mumbai, and owned by Bitumen Invest AS of the United Arab Emirates. The pirates had released 8 NRIs who had been held hostage in April 2011. He said the efforts of the government and other agencies, had failed to secure their release.
Another issue related to 30 employees, including four from Kerala, who work for Varun Shipping Company and have been stuck in Dubai coast since August 2013. These employees have been confined to the vessels, even as rations and fuel for generating electricity were reported to be depleting fast. The third issue related to the release of Shiju K.M., who was in police custody in Abu Dhabi on false charges of drug smuggling. Mr. Chandy also urged Ms. Swaraj to take necessary steps to ascertain the facts about two Keralites, Raveendran Parambath of Kozhikode and V.K. Ponnappan of Kottayam, who were suspected to have been killed in a recent bomb blast in Afghanistan. He urged the Minister to ensure that their bodies are brought back home. He also wanted Ms. Swaraj’s intervention to ensure smooth passage to another Keralite C. Abhilash of Kannur, who has been stranded in Tripoli owing to unrest in that country.
