Indian hostage's family seeks AP police's help

The family of one of the three Indians being held captive by pirates, on Friday sought the Visakhapatnam police commissioner's help for his safe release.

In a representation to Visakhapatnam City Commissioner of Police N Sambashiva Rao, hostage Saravanan's family met Rao.

The commissioner told PTI over phone that he will take up the issue with foreign affairs ministry.

There is no information about the demand of hijackers, the commissioner said.

In her representation Saravanan's wife Shiva, a mother of two, said her husband, an engineer working with Kenya-based General Engineering Company, was on the ship for some repair work when the pirates attacked it.

'We were informed by the company on January 9 and after that there has been no contact with the company officials,' she said.

Besides Saravanan, the Kenyan fishing vessel M V Alpha Manyara has an Indian captain and another Indian crew aboard and was hijacked on January 9, according to relatives of the sailors taken hostage.

Saravanan, who hails from Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, had settled in Visakhapatnam about 20 years ago.

According to reports, the ship was hijacked by Somali pirates who took three Indians captive after releasing eight Kenyan crew members.