Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaida kidnaps 3 Indians in Mali? MEA calls it 'deplorable act of violence', says...

A relative of one of the three Indian nationals kidnapped by an al-Qaida-linked group in Mali has said that the kidnappers are demanding ransom for their release, Times of India reported. P Venkataraman, a resident of Ganjam district in Odisha, is one of the three Indians abducted by the group, with the other two belonging to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the report said. 

In a conversation with news agency ANI, Venkataraman's brother-in-law said that he had spoken to him last on June 30. "Venkat last called me on June 30. He worked in a cement factory in Mali, West Africa. He said his company had stopped them from going out as terrorists were present. This kidnapping incident happened on July 1."

He added that the family was initially informed that Venkataraman was in police custody after the factory had been set on fire, but later they got to know that he had been abducted. "We got a call from the company that he and some others are in police custody as terrorists have set the factory on fire. An international news claimed that al-Qaida had kidnapped some people. We called the company to confirm this, and they refused us to leak this information and said that the terrorists are demanding ransom in exchange for the people," he said.

Venkat's brother-in-law claimed that he had called and mailed the embassy but got no response. "I demand that my brother-in-law be brought back home safely,” he added.

MEA's reponse to the incident 

According to the TOI report, the three Indians were abducted during an armed attack on the Diamond Cement Factory in Kayes city, Mali. The factory is owned by the Hyderabad-based Prasaditya Group. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has expressed concern over the July 1 incident, calling the "deplorable act of violence".  

“It has come to the knowledge of the Government of India that many military and government installations at multiple locations of western and central Mali were attacked by terrorists on July 1", it said in a statement, adding that the Indian embassy in Bamako is in “close and constant communication” with Malian authorities, law enforcement agencies, and the management of Diamond Cement Factory.

Although no group has officially claimed the responsibility for the incident, security agencies suspect that it was carried out by Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a group affiliated with al-Qaida.