06 March,2011 07:08 AM IST | | A correspondent
After issuing a 48-hour deadline on February 3 before they'd start killing the crew aboard MV Suez, an Egyptian-owned cargo ship hijacked on August 2, 2010, the Somalian pirates who had spoken to Mid Day over satellite phone, were unavailable on Saturday.
If their demands were not met within two days, they would begin the carnage of the ship's crew of 22, they had claimed.
Sunday MiD DAY called Khushal Khujaria, cousin of hijacked chief officer Narottam Sharma, who said, "The pirates have put restrictions on phone calls going in to M V Suez."
Khujaria said he has launched a campaign to rescue Sharma and the other seamen by meeting prominent politicians in New Delhi over the last few days. Assurances is what Khujaria has received so far, he said.
Family members of the crew have been asked to wait for a couple of days before the government can take action, Khujaria shared.
The ship is carrying six Indians, four Pakistanis, and 12 Egyptians. The owners have been identified as Red Sea Navigation, a firm operating out of the trouble-torn Port Said.
