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Four Indians kidnapped in Libya, ISIS hand suspected: Report

BENGALURU: The four men were locked up in a tiny dark room. All they could hear was the distant sound of vehicles. "My heart was in my mouth," recalled Vijay Kumar, 56, a faculty with Sirte University , Libya.The professor, who hails from Kolar, and his colleague from Raichur, Laxmikanth Ramakrishna, along with two others from Hyderabad, had been abducted by IS militants on Wednesday. "Images of what ISIS does to hostages kept flashing in my mind," he said.However, three hours after they were kidnapped, something happened. "One person walked into our room and asked for our names, religion and profession. When told that we were teachers with Sirte University, everything changed ," Kumar said.The leader of the abductors, who introduced himself as Sheikh, called someone over mobile, conversing in Arabic. "But his body language changed once he told the other person that we are teachers," Kumar said.Kumar recalled that Sheikh said over phone, 'Ok. We shall not harm them and will look after them well'. "Turning to us, Sheikh said, 'We have great respect for teachers and you have helped many Libyan children learn something. We will not blindfold or handcuff you'," Kumar recalled.: 'Saw our students among militants'2 from Gujarat suspected to have joined ISISFamilies worried as two Indians still in IS custodyISIS preparing to attack India: ReportISIS, Pakistani flags raised again in SrinagarNarrating how they were abducted, Laxmikanth said the four of them were travelling in two cars on their way to the airport on July 29, heading to India for their annual vacation. When his car crossed a check post 50 km from Sirte, his driver got a call that the other taxi had been stopped at the check post. "When we drove back to the check post, masked men surrounded us and asked us to get into their vehicles," he added.All four were taken to an undisclosed destination. "We were taken into a big hall in a huge compound. Some of the kidnappers started checking our baggage, took out the money and jewels and made a list of them. We were then taken to an air-conditioned room where a carpet was laid for us to rest," Laxmikanth said.Later Sheikh came and started interrogating them on why they were leaving Libya and what they knew about Islam. "We told him that it was routine for us to visit India during vacations here and that we were teaching at the University of Sirte. I also pleaded that I wanted to see my six-month-old daughter and explained to him about Islam and how in India both the Hindus and Muslims live in unity and participate in each others' festivals. That night we had to go without food," he said.