Kidnapped engineer returns home after 18 days in captivity

VISAKHAPATNAM: Having gone through 18 days of nightmare in the hands of around 25 militants in Nigeria, 44-year-old civil engineer from Port City, Mangipudi Sai Srinivas finally heaved a sigh of relief after meeting his wife and two children here at CBM Compound on Sunday.

Speaking exclusively to TOI, Srinivas said it was a nightmare for him and his colleague Anish Sharma in the hands of the militants in Nigeria. Recounting the incident, he said on June 29, an SUV was following them. Subsequently, the militants intercepted them and asked them to raise their hands over their heads and threatened to shoot them if they failed to comply. Srinivas said they fired five to six rounds in the air as well following which he and his colleague were blindfolded and taken to an isolated place after travelling for nearly 400 km at a speed of 100 to 120 km.

After reaching their spot, there the kidnappers, nearly about 25 men, first offered them bread and water, and later a cup of curd.

"Bread and water is the food that was given to us. I never used to eat bread in my life, but here I was forced to have it. To control the sugar levels, I requested them to offer a spoon of sugar every day which they agreed. They also washed our clothes for two days," Srinivas said, adding that he lost nearly 6-7 kg during his time in captivity.

Srinivas further added that he was allowed to speak to his company management twice and once to directly speak to them for settling the ransom demand made by the abductors. "They kidnapped us only for money. Thankfully, my company offered the ransom, but I don't know the details. I was supposed to reach home on Saturday, but finally landed at Mumbai airport on Sunday morning and arrived at home at 2.45 pm," Srinivas said, adding that he was released on July 16 at 11 am.

"As I was completely blindfolded during captivity, I spent nearly 40% of my time praying to all gods including Lord Sri Venkateswara Swamy of Tirupati. Rest of the time, I thought about my family and the company's efforts to release us," Srinivas said, adding that he would go to Tirupati soon to offer prayers to the Lord.