A Varanasi man released by sea pirates after 45 days

Varanasi: After being in the custody of sea pirates for 45 days, Santosh Bharadwaj, a native of temple city of Varanasi, returned home on Wednesday night.

Santosh along with four others was kidnapped by sea pirates in the middle of sea on March 26 last.

His family had sought the help of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj for his release.

Santosh is an engineer at ‘Transocean Singapore Private limited’ and was posted in Nigeria.

The 45 days ordeal:

• Santosh said that pirates gave them the flesh of monkey and dogs to eat.
• They were kept at an isolated island.
• He ate noodles all these days.
• Santosh told that his company gave a ransom of one million dollar to free them.
• He hails from Rajtilak colony of Varanasi.

Tweets of Sushma Swaraj:

I am extremely happy to inform that Shri Santosh Bhardwaj has been rescued from pirates in Nigeria.pic.twitter.com/a4ikQUe9y8

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 11, 2016