Chandigarh:Ankit Hooda (20), from Assan village in Rohtak district of Haryana, is among five Indians who have been abducted from the ship they were working on as sailors, and taken hostage by pirates in Nigeria.
With no government help allegedly forthcoming, Ankit’s cousin Bharat Deshwal and uncle Bhupender Gulia have also taken up the matter with Pakistan human and civil rights activist Ansar Burney, who helped secure the release of six Indian sailors in 2011 when Egyptian merchant ship MV Suez they were working on was held captive by Somali pirates for over a year.Since the whereabouts of Ankit’s father are not known for the past eight years and he is the only support for his 45-year-old mother Usha Hooda, his family has been knocking at every possible door for the past two weeks.
Ankit, who did his graduation from Rohtak, was working as Ordinary Seaman (OS) on Nigerian merchant ship MT Apecus when pirates struck the ship on the outer anchorage of Bonny island of Nigeria on April 19.
The captain of the ship and six other crew members were taken hostage. Five of them are from India — the others being Sudeep Kumar Choudhry from Odisha, Chirag Jadhav from Kalyan (Maharashtra), PS Avinash and Moogu Ravi (whose residence details are not known to Ankit’s family).
“We have tried our best to meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, visiting six times, but every time, we were told she is out of Delhi We are clueless whom to approach,” said Deshwal.
Sampa Arya, a Rohtak resident whose husband Ravinder Gulia was one of the six Indian sailors held captive by Somali pirates for over a year in 2011, has been helping Ankit’s family.
Meanwhile, Deshwal said that responding to an SOS by Sudeep Choudhry’s wife, the Indian High Commission responded that the mission was in constant touch with the Nigerian authorities.
“Initial contact made, caution is of utmost importance for everyone’s safety,” the High Commission had responded through a tweet.
