The great escape

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Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsWhen Kolaraveetil Biju returned to his native Koyilandy on Sunday, 14 months after being abducted by Islamic militants in the Philippines, he had a tale resembling the script of a Hollywood action movie to tell.Biju had been abducted from his wife’s house in the Sulu Province of the Philippines where he had been on holiday. “It was in June 2011 and I was visiting my wife, taking a break from my job in Kuwait.It was a ploy of the militants there to abduct any foreign national visiting the area and demand a large amount of money as ransom. This time, unfortunately, I was the one they selected,” he said.Biju has harrowing tales to tell of the 14 months he spent with his captors. “They would shift camp every two weeks to avoid detection and I was kept totally blacked out and not allowed to communicate with anyone. There was much harassment, both physically and mentally, and how I was treated depended on their mood,” he said.Ironically, the biggest threat to his life during the period came, not from the militants, but from the Philippine marines who were desperately trying to rescue him. “The group that I was being moved around with came under attack from Philippine marines a number of times. I can recall at least 10-12 grenades that landed near me during these attacks and on one occasion, the sound of one exploding next to me rendered me deaf for 7-8 hours. I also had to witness the militants killing captured marines with many of them having their throats slit. They would then gesture to me that this would be my fate if the money did not arrive,” he said.Escaping did cross his mind, once or twice, but he never dared to attempt it for the fear of his life. “I always had 8-10 people with machine guns guarding me so it was never going to be easy. But during the last month of my stay with them, I began understanding parts of their conversation from which I learned that their patience had run out and they were not going to keep me alive for much longer. It was then that I thought I had to try to escape at least once,” he says.Even on that fateful night, he had not thought about escaping until he found himself with space to run. “Ever since Ramadan had begun, the number of guards around me had lessened and the ones who were there, were weary from fasting. On that night, they were all sleeping and I stepped outside to relieve myself. Then I realised that I had the opportunity to run. I hesitated at first but a voice inside told me to go for it. So I ran, knowing well that I could get shot any moment and that only God could deliver me safely to my family,” he said.And God did come, but in human form, says Biju. “I covered around 4km running frantically along a worn-out path that I faintly saw in the moonlight. It was then that I bumped into a human figure and fell down. I initially thought it was a militant and prepared to die but it turned out to be a local who recognised me because of my unusually big beard. He asked me to follow him and I blindly trusted him, praying that I be allowed to see my children, wife and parents once again. Thankfully, he delivered me to the house of a high-ranking official who arranged for me to get to Manila. I do not know who that person was and never saw him again. But I owe him my life,” Biju said.first published:August 20, 2012, 11:52 ISTlast updated:August 20, 2012, 11:52 IST
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When Kolaraveetil Biju returned to his native Koyilandy on Sunday, 14 months after being abducted by Islamic militants in the Philippines, he had a tale resembling the script of a Hollywood action movie to tell.

Biju had been abducted from his wife’s house in the Sulu Province of the Philippines where he had been on holiday. “It was in June 2011 and I was visiting my wife, taking a break from my job in Kuwait.

It was a ploy of the militants there to abduct any foreign national visiting the area and demand a large amount of money as ransom. This time, unfortunately, I was the one they selected,” he said.

Biju has harrowing tales to tell of the 14 months he spent with his captors. “They would shift camp every two weeks to avoid detection and I was kept totally blacked out and not allowed to communicate with anyone. There was much harassment, both physically and mentally, and how I was treated depended on their mood,” he said.

Ironically, the biggest threat to his life during the period came, not from the militants, but from the Philippine marines who were desperately trying to rescue him. “The group that I was being moved around with came under attack from Philippine marines a number of times. I can recall at least 10-12 grenades that landed near me during these attacks and on one occasion, the sound of one exploding next to me rendered me deaf for 7-8 hours. I also had to witness the militants killing captured marines with many of them having their throats slit. They would then gesture to me that this would be my fate if the money did not arrive,” he said.

Escaping did cross his mind, once or twice, but he never dared to attempt it for the fear of his life. “I always had 8-10 people with machine guns guarding me so it was never going to be easy. But during the last month of my stay with them, I began understanding parts of their conversation from which I learned that their patience had run out and they were not going to keep me alive for much longer. It was then that I thought I had to try to escape at least once,” he says.

Even on that fateful night, he had not thought about escaping until he found himself with space to run. “Ever since Ramadan had begun, the number of guards around me had lessened and the ones who were there, were weary from fasting. On that night, they were all sleeping and I stepped outside to relieve myself. Then I realised that I had the opportunity to run. I hesitated at first but a voice inside told me to go for it. So I ran, knowing well that I could get shot any moment and that only God could deliver me safely to my family,” he said.

And God did come, but in human form, says Biju. “I covered around 4km running frantically along a worn-out path that I faintly saw in the moonlight. It was then that I bumped into a human figure and fell down. I initially thought it was a militant and prepared to die but it turned out to be a local who recognised me because of my unusually big beard. He asked me to follow him and I blindly trusted him, praying that I be allowed to see my children, wife and parents once again. Thankfully, he delivered me to the house of a high-ranking official who arranged for me to get to Manila. I do not know who that person was and never saw him again. But I owe him my life,” Biju said.