Fr Alexis Prem Kumar at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday. (Agence France Presse photo)
Nearly nine months after he was taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan, Father Prem Kumar Antonysamy, the head of a Jesuit organisation, landed in Delhi on Sunday.
Father Kumar, who was the country head of educational charity Jesuit Refugee Service, had been abducted on June 2, 2014, from the Sahadat village of Herat province. He was reportedly visiting a school for Afghan refugee children from Iran and Pakistan which was outside Herat.
The Indian government on Sunday secured his release. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the release in a series of tweets this afternoon, the first of which read, "Will soon share some good news with all of you."
After landing in Delhi, Father Kumar expressed his thanks to PM Modi and the Indian government.
"The Government of India, especially the External Affairs Ministry, has made a lot of effort to take care of me, to console me," he said. " I sincerely thank PM Modi and all officials of foreign ministry, they have done a great job."
His family too, expressed their thanks. "We are happy. We thank the Central government and the district administration," said his brother Albert Manoharan.
Father Kumar, whose family is based in Tamil Nadu, had been working in Afghanistan for around four years before his abduction.
His abduction was the first such incident since November 2005, when 36-year-old R Maniyappan working with the Border Road Organisation was taken hostage and beheaded. It came on the heels of an attack on the Indian consulate in Herat in May by four heavily armed gunmen, who were repelled by security forces.
Last year in June, 39 construction workers were abducted in Iraq's Mosul. They are yet to be released.