Ship attack in Red Sea; Malayali Anilkumar Raveendran detained in Yemen, released

ALAPPUZHA: Anilkumar Raveendran of Kayamkulam in Alappuzha, who was detained in Yemen after escaping from a wrecked cargo ship, following the attack of Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, has been released. Anilkumar, who has reached Muscat, will return to his homeland soon. India thanked Oman for intervening in his release. Anilkumar Raveendran was a member of the cargo ship that wrecked in the Red Sea after being attacked by Houthi rebels. The other 10 members of the ship have already been released.

The ship sank in a grenade attack on July 7. 11 on board, including security officer Anilkumar, went missing. By the end of July, Anilkumar called home in Patthiyoorkala Sreejalayam. He told his wife Sreeja that he was in Yemen and would be able to come back soon. In the call that lasted only for minutes, he spoke to his son Anooj too. Sreeja informed the embassy officials about the call and gave the number from which he had been contacted.

Since there is no Indian embassy in Yemen, the authority has been given to the embassy in Saudi Arabia. Central Investigation Bureau officials and Karthikappally Tahasildar collected the details of Anilkumar from his home. There were 25 people on the attacked ship. Three died during the attack, one met with fatal injury.

21 jumped into the sea, from which 10 were rescued, including Augustine, a native of Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram. Many, including Anil, had jumped into the sea wearing jackets but faced difficulty in finding the direction.