Hyderabad: Out of ISIS clutches after nearly 14 months of his kidnapping while on his way to Tunisia’s airport to board a flight to India in July 2015, Professor CH. Balram has no words to express his happiness.
Professor Balram told ANI,”I am extremely delighted to reunite with my family. Media should excuse me for not being able to take any of your questions at the moment, but I promise that in the coming days, I will definitely call for a detailed interview with all media persons.”
“I take this opportunity to express my thanks to Libyan Army, the Indian embassy in Tripoli, the state government, the Central Government, my family members, relatives, friends and all well wishers who supported me,” he added.
Professor Balram’s wife Sridevi and her two children made frequents calls to the Indian embassy in Tripoli and tried to contact the English department dean in Sirte University, under whom her husband had worked for some time.
Expressing her happiness, Sridevi said, “I am very happy as we all family members are reunited. And for this, I want to thank the Central Government, the state government as well as the Indian embassy in Tripoli.”
“My husband has been released from ISIS is a very Big and happy news for us,” she added.
Their eldest son Vijay Bhasker said, “It is a very joyous moment, as my father has been reunited with us almost after 14 months after enduring a lot of trouble and was in very bad condition.”
“I just want to say thanks to everybody, who have directly or indirectly been involved in this rescue mission and helping us to reunite our family. Primarily, the Indian Government, both Central and state governments, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Libyan side, who had to coordinate for the rescue mission,” Bhaskar added.
Professors Gopikrishna, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, and Balaram Kishan, a native of Telangana, were teaching at Libya’s Sirte University. Gopikrishna was an assistant professor of computer science and Balram an English professor.
They were abducted by Islamic State militants on July 29 last year.
ANI