No ransom paid for release of Kerala priest Tom Uzhunnalil
The Keralite priest was abducted by Islamic State terrorists during a deadly attack on a care home in the port city of Aden in war-ravaged Yemen on March 6, 2016.
Thiruvananthapuram,
September
13:
The
Centre
on
Wednesday
said
Kerala
priest
father
Tom
Uzhunnalil's
release
was
secured
without
paying
ransom
amount
to
abductors.
It
also
underlined
that
the
Ministry
of
External
Affairs
"works
quietly
without
noise,
but
ultimately
gets
the
work
done".
The Keralite priest was abducted by Islamic State terrorists during a deadly attack on a care home in the port city of Aden in war-ravaged Yemen on March 6, 2016.
At least 15 people at the old-age home were killed in the attack. "Release of Father Uzhunnalil yesterday underlines one thing that the Ministry of External Affairs works quietly and without noise, but ultimately gets the work done," Union Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh told a press conference here.
The Union minister said "no" when asked whether any ransom was paid for the release of the priest. "We know the type of criticism that had come couple of times when Father Uzhunnalil disappeared in Yeman.
We are very happy that he has come back safely and I'm sure people will appreciate that we were able to get him out safe and sound," Singh added. On the role played by Oman, Singh said various methods were adopted to tackle a problem.
"If a direct method failed to yield results, indirect methods are adopted and the aim is to get the problem solved," he said.
Asked whether Uzhunnanlil contacted any Indian officials to thank the government following his release, Singh said, "I'm quite sure that he will do it after he gets back from the Vatican."
It was for the priest to decide when he would come to India, Singh said responding to a question. A video of Uzhunnalil had surfaced in December last year in which he appealed to the government to free him.
In
the
clip,
Uzhunnalil
was
seen
saying,
"If
I
were
a
European
priest,
I
would
have
been
taken
more
seriously.
I'm
from
India.
I'm
perhaps
not
considered
of
much
value."
In
July,
Union
minister
Sushma
Swaraj
had
taken
up
the
the
issue
of
Uzhunnalil's
abduction
with
the
Deputy
Prime
Minister
of
Yemen
and
requested
him
to
secure
the
release
of
the
priest.
Last year, Sushma Swaraj had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has spoken to various countries for the release of the priest .
PTI