An Indian Information Technology professional has been released three months after he was kidnapped in Libya, the government said in New Delhi on Wednesday.
“The Indian Embassy in Libya has secured the release of Regi Joseph – an Indian national from Kerala. He was abducted in March this year,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj posted on Twitter. She added that Joseph’s release from captivity was possible due to efforts by Indian ambassador in Libya Azar A H Khan.
A native of Koorachundu in Kozhikode district, Regi has been missing since March 31 after he left his home in Tripoli for work. His wife Shinuja, a nurse in Tripoli, had informed Regi’s family about the incident. Regi was employed in a government-run civilian registration authority project and was living in Tripoli with Shinuja and their three daughters.
Though suspected anti-government insurgents were reported to have abducted Regi, members of his family had maintained that there was no authentic information about the group. Regi started working in Libya in 2005. He returned home after clashes broke out in the North African country. After a three-year break in Kerala, he returned to Libya along with his family in 2014.
Last May, the government had banned travel to Libya in view of the deteriorating security situation in the strife-torn country.
