Kasargod : There were smiles all over as Vasanth Kumar of Melparamba and VK Babu of Uduma Palekunni returned to their respective homes on July 31, Wednesday morning. Of course there was a reason behind the smiles. The families of the two as well as their entire village had spent several days in tension after the two along with 24 others on board the vessel MV Cotton were held captive by pirates off the Coast of Gabon on July 17. After days of captivity they were set free by pirates and returned to their homeland on July 31.
If Vasanth Kumar reached Adkattabail where his wife stays at around 2 am, his colleague Babu reached at 3 am. They were welcomed with joy by their family members. They said the prayers of all their family members and well wishers had helped in their release.
Vasanth Kumar and Babu informed that the pirates had stolen all their valuables and had also destroyed the CCTV camera, satellite phone facility in the vessel and also all its oil stock before letting them free after diverting the ship towards Nigeria. They said the crew of the ship hailed from across the nation including Odisha, Goa, Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra.