New Delhi: The doctor released from the captivity of the Islamic State, Ramamurthy Kosanam, has said the terror group has a “lot of interest” in India and wants to “take over”.
Dr Kosanam, who reached India on Saturday morning, told CNN-News18 that he could understand from the interactions with his captors that the IS was “impressed with India’s education system and economic growth”.
Recounting his ordeal, the doctor said he was subjected to mental torture and was forced to watch their “terrible videos”. “They forced me to watch their gory activities,” he said, adding that they would talk to him very rudely.
“They beat some of the prisoners in front of us,” Kosanam, who was abducted by IS terrorists nearly 18 months ago, said.
On the larger objective of the Islamic State, Kosanam said, “They are a hard-core terrorist group and want to spread their clout throughout the world.” He added that the group wants to impose its rules and regulations on everybody.
Kosanam remained under captivity for at least a year before being asked to work for the group. “I told them that I didn’t have a lot of experience, but still they asked me to work,” he told CNN-News18.
After spending a year and a half under IS rule and witnessing the group’s brutality first hand, Kosanam was grateful to the Indian government. “I am thankful to our PM Narendra Modi and the National Security Advisor. I am grateful that they worked hard to get me rescued,” he said.
A native of Eluru, Dr Ramamurthy was working as a physician in the Lbn-e-Sina Hospital at Sirte. A group of IS militants gained entry into the hospital and kidnapped Dr. Ramamurthy, engineer Samal Pravash Ranjan of Odisha and seven Filipino nurses from their residential quarters.