Even though the government has secured the release of 22 hostages from the clutches of Somali pirates after paying them a ransom, these 22 people have been barred from returning home with their luggage. The government has seized their luggage so that it could find a clue to be able to arrest the Somali kidnappers and recover the ransom of $2.1 million.
The released hostages demanded the Pakistani government to hand over their luggage that holds 10 months’ worth of memories of an unpleasant adventure, but the authorities refused their request. Capt S Wasi Hassan was witnessed exchanging heated words with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan’s staff members when they refused to hand him his luggage.
“I cannot leave my 10 months’ worth of memories at the Governor House. I am sorry I cannot return home until my luggage is handed over to me. I have some classified documents on my laptop, which cannot be shared at any cost,” Hassan said. He told Pakistan Today that his luggage was confiscated at the dockyard with the assurance that it would be returned to him on his way home. He said that he wanted to leave for home, but the authorities were refusing to return his luggage.
“I have some important documents on my laptop that I cannot allow them to go through,” he added. Governor House officials asked Hassan to stay behind for his luggage. “I decided to send my excited family home and wait for security clearance of my luggage,” he said. Similarly, the government has seized the luggage of Indian, Sri Lankan and Egyptian nationals, who were among the 22 hostages, for gathering clues in order to arrest the pirates.
An official at the Embassy of Egypt in Pakistan, Tariq, told this scribe that the Pakistani government has only handed the abductees their passports and told them that their luggage would be released after their investigation is completed. He said that the Pakistani and Egyptian governments joined hands for the release of their citizens abducted by Somali pirates, but the released prisoners were not allowed to return home with their luggage.
The hostages are going to return home and it is hoped that their luggage would be handed over to them according to the commitment made to them, he added. AAMIR MAJEED
