IS men treated me like a guest, invited me back: Freed teacher

Prof Lakshmikant, who was abducted and released by IS militants in Libya, returned to Raichur on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, he said that his abductors treated him like a guest in a hotel and they did not abuse or torture them. Recalling the incident, he said that on July 29 (Wednesday), he and Vijay Kumar (both working for Sirte University) were travelling by car while Gopikrishna and Balaram (who work for another varsity and hail from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh respectively) were going by another car to the airport.

“A group of boys in the 13-17 age group intercepted the car of Gopikrishna and Balaram near the checkpost and we returned to check on them. The gang leader was called to the spot over phone and he confirmed our identity. A boy in the group, who was our student, identified me and Vijay Kumar. We were neither blindfolded nor handcuffed. We were taken by an AC car to big hall where beds were laid out. They asked if we need food.”

“The next day, our luggage was brought to the hall. They asked us to give them cash, valuables, laptop, projector, i-Pad. On Friday, I and Vijay Kumar were taken to Sirte University and all our belongings were returned. They gave a mobile phone with a SIM card and asked us to update them on our whereabouts till we reach India. We did so till we left Tripoli. But, we could make calls in Tunisia. I tried calling them after reaching Hyderabad, but could not reach them,” he said.

Invited back

He said the IS fighters and Sirte University had invited him back to Libya. The college was closed from March 13 onwards but the varsity paid us salary till August 31. “I was getting paid 5,200 Libyan Dinar (Rs 2.50 lakh) a month. But, the salary was halved owing to the decline in oil prices,” he added.

Police officers from Raichur and officials of the Revenue Department went to Hyderabad to receive Lakshmikant.