PIL seeks Centre’s help to secure release of abducted crew

The petitioners have submitted that on March 29 last year,the crew of the MV Iceberg-1,flying a Panama flag,was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Among the detainees are six Indians and two Pakistanis. “Eighteen months have passed and yet the Government of India seems to have taken few steps to get them released,” reads the petition.

“The iceberg is now sinking. The last time the detainees were contacted was on June 3. Since then,there has been no contact with them. The pirates have demanded 8 million dollars for their release. The nation spends millions of rupees on defence and other purposes; and as such the government is duty bound to protect the lives of its citizens whenever required. This being the position,a direction be issued to the respondents to make all out efforts to get its citizens released from the Somali pirates. It is a matter of common knowledge now that Somali pirates are capturing hundreds of Pakistanis,Indians and other nationals every month and release them only after taking huge ransom”,reads the PIL.

The abducted Indians include Jaswinder Singh,Dhiraj Tiwari,Ganesh Mohite,Santosh Yadav,Swapnil Jadhav and Shah Ji Kumar Purshotanam.