Somali pirates at give & take mode; keep Indian hostages

Mogadishu, Apr 16: It seems that Somali pirates are now in a give and take mode. Despite receiving a multimillion dollar ransom, the pirates kept the Indian hostages and demanded that unless India releases their colleagues, they will keep the Indians.

"We decided to keep the Indians because India is holding our colleagues. We released the other crew members who sailed away from our coast. We will keep these Indians until the Indians release our colleagues," a pirate, Hassan Farah, said on Friday, Apr 15.

Indian Navy recently caught 16 Somali pirates and foiled a mission of the pirates in Mar 2011. The 16 Somali pirates and the 16 hostages-12 Iranians and four Pakistanis were brought to Mumbai.

However, the pirates released the ship and some of the crew after receiving the huge ransom on Apr 15. A multimillion dollar ransom was paid for the ship Asphalt Venture, whose ownership is located in Mumbai, India.

OneIndia News