DHARAMSHALA: Indian youths kidnapped by the Nigerian pirates were fed only noodles, that too one time in a day, for more than two months. They spent their days under a plastic tent with single mattress over a big rug and were not allowed to move outside it, the three men who returned home on Sunday told TOI.Sushil Dhiman (37), Ajay Kumar (36) and Pankaj Kumar (37), were kidnapped and their ship hijacked by pirates on January 30 this year during their voyage from Benin port in West Africa to Malabar in India around 3pm.“They were always under the influence of drugs. They did not cause us any physical harm,” said Pankaj, who hails from Samloti.Recalling that fateful day, he said a ship started chasing us and within no time pirates swam up to our ship. “They fired gunshots in the air and told us to surrender. There were 14 South African youths with us. But they allowed them to go with the ship and brought three of us down,” Pankaj added.At least eight armed pirates used to keep vigil on them round-the-clock. Whenever they were allowed to talk to their families or the company owners through satellite phones, the pirates would shooting in the air so that the gunshots were heard on the other side of the line.“We were at their mercy. They took drugs the whole day, be it cannabis, some medicines or alcohol. They would give us noodles one time a day, but when happy, they would feed us noodles two times in a day,” recalled Dhiman, who was the captain of the ship and belongs to Nagrota Suriyan village in Kangra district. While in captivity, he had malaria on March 14 but he recovered in around a week.The place where they were kept was a forest area near Narkot Port in Nigeria. “The very first day, we were told not make any attempt to run away. They said that due to drug addiction they may not be able to and the escape bid would force them to shoot us,” said Ajay, whose family lives in Palampur.“They would constantly tell us that if ransom was delayed, then disease would kill us and if denied, then bullet,” he added.

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