Ex-army officer under Houthi captivity set free after five months
ALAPPUZHA: A retired Indian Army officer from Kayamkulam, who was taken captive by Houthi rebels in war-torn Yemen, was released after five months on Wednesday. Anilkumar Raveendran, 52, of Sreejalayam, Pathiyoor, Kayamkulam, was held by the security forces under the Houthi-controlled Yemeni government since July 7. He was serving as a security officer on board the Liberian-flagged cargo vessel MV Eternity C, which was attacked and later sunk in the Red Sea. Anilkumar told TNIE after arriving from Yemen on Thursday that the rebels did not physically torture him. However, the five-month captivity in a room, somewhere in Sanaa, was a mental torture. He and 10 others were in captivity, including nine Filipinos and one Greek national were released. On Wednesday night, he arrived in Oman and reached Nedumbassery on Thursday noon. In July, the cargo vessel was on its way to the Israeli port of Eilat when it came under attack. Houthi militants, who have intensified strikes on international shipping amid the Israel-Gaza conflict, seized the vessel and later destroyed it. At the time, the ship carried crew from India, the Philippines, Russia, and Greece. Four crew members were killed in the assault, while six, including Augustin from Parassala, Thiruvananthapuram, were rescued by the European Union Naval Force and repatriated within a week. However, 11 others, including Anilkumar, remained in captivity. Anilkumar joined the shipping company five years ago through Ocean Group Overseas Consultancy, Palakkad. A former soldier, he retired after 19 years of service. His wife is Sreeja, son Anuj, a BSc Emergency Medicine student, and daughter Anugha, a Plus-I student.
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