Hyderabad: A 23-year-old man from Telangana’s Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district was kidnapped in Mali on November 23. The incident has come to light now.

The victim was identified as Nallamasa Praveen, who is a native of Bandasomaram village, Bhuvanagiri works as a supervisor at a company in Hyderabad. Praveen travelled to Mali for some official work. He last spoke to his parents on November 22 and was reportedly kidnaped on November 23 by a group which identifies itself as Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM).

On December 4, Praveen’s company contacted his parents and confirmed that the supervisor has been kidnapped. Praveen’s parents have appealed the central government for help.

Similar incident

In a similar incident in 2022, an Indian origin girl  was kidnapped in South Africa. Abirah Dekhta, a student of Rylands Primary School, was sitting in her school transport vehicle when she was abducted on the morning of November 4.

Abirah was one of five children of cellphone businessman Aslam Dekhta and wife Salama, who live in Rylands and are originally from India, the Cape Times reported. Fowzia Veerasamy, the chairperson of the Gatesville Neighbourhood Watch, said they had handed over CCTV footage to the police, but there were no fresh leads.

Veerasamy said a white Nissan double cab bakkie rapidly pulled into the driveway at Amber Court where the lift club driver had been parked in his maroon-coloured vehicle.

Two men jumped out of the vehicle with firearms and held the driver at gunpoint. They took the driver’s cellphone and snatched Abirah by the neck, forcing her into the bakkie, Veerasamy told Cape Argus. The South African Police Service has since indicated that they were unable to comment about the case due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

According to local media reports, Abirah’s case is the latest in at least 200 kidnappings in the Western Cape, involving mostly foreign nationals in the past few months.

Most kidnappings are for ransom, they added.

With inputs from IANS