Pirates beat us up,starved us for days,say released hostages

In Delhi,Prashant said that at point he thought the pirates would never leave them alive. “It’s a second life we have got,” he said. He was working as chef in Somalia after having done a course from Bhopal. Prashant was on his way back to Shimla.

After getting a job,Satnam had boarded the ship on June 10,2010. On August 20,he called his parents to say their ship had been detained by Somalian pirates who were were demanding Rs 20 crore,later scaled down to Rs 11 crore,as ransom.

Satnam added that neither the company owners nor the Indian government intervened to get the ship released and they remained in captivity till Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney intervened. Prashant,too,claimed that the Indian government did nothing and it was Burney who facilitated the release of all hostages.

“The pirates used to torture us and force us to talk to our families on the mobile and ask them to arrange the money,” Satnam said.

Satnam’s parents expressed their thanks to Burney for his efforts. Satnam’s father Shamsher Singh,an ex-serviceman criticised the Indian government authorities for not making efforts to get the hostages released.

Prashant said,“I waited for months for the moment to return home and reunite with my family. I often thought that they would kill us all.”

“Even on the way back to Karachi,it was difficult to believe that we are actually going back to our families. Only when I landed at Delhi airport did I realise this was real. Our nightmare was truly over,” he said.