Infosys employee Viswakanth Akireddy coming out of the Lindt cafe in Sydney. (Associated Press)
There was not one but two Infosys employees inside Lindt cafe in Sydney when an armed man laid siege to it, holding 17 people hostage.
While the presence inside the cafe of Vishwakant Ankit Reddy from Andhra Pradesh became known while the over 16-hour siege was on, it was only after it ended that it became known that another employee of the IT major, Pushpendu Ghosh from Bengal had been held hostage too.
Infosys said in a statement late last evening, "We have received confirmation that another Infosys employee was in the siege. Both employees have been rescued safely." The company thanked the Australian police for ensuring the safe rescue of the hostages.
It had earlier on Monday confirmed that one of its employees was among the hostages, without naming Mr Reddy. After the rescue, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted:
Mr Reddy's wife, Shilpa, said in Sydney, "He is with police at present. He is undergoing some medical treatment and some questioning with police there. Then I contacted police who said he is safe and nothing happened. Police were calling me every one hour to ensure that I am okay and my kid is safe."
She said her husband had called her from the cafe while he was being held hostage and assured her that the gunman had not harmed them. Shilpa also thanked the Australian and the Indian governments for their help.
The hostage taker was identified as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh who faced multiple charges of sexual assault. He and two hostages were killed and four other people were wounded in the siege that ended late on Monday night with the police storming the cafe.
Monis was found guilty in 2012 of sending offensive and threatening letters to families of eight Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, as a protest against Australia's involvement in the conflict, according to local media reports.