The family of a cement industry consultant from Jaipur, who was abducted last month in West African country Mali, on Monday (August 4, 2025) sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to secure his release. The family, struggling with uncertainty, has not received any information on his whereabouts so far.
Prakash Chandra Joshi, 61, was among the three Indian nationals abducted in the Kayes region of Mali during an armed assault by suspected terrorists affiliated with Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM), a group linked to Al-Qaeda, on July 1. The incident occurred at Diamond Cement Factory, which Mr. Joshi had joined as general manager on June 5.
Mr. Joshi’s daughter, Chitra Joshi, said at a press conference here that though the family had approached the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Embassy in Mali’s capital Bamako and other authorities, it had not received any “convincing response”. “We have no information about his location or the demands of the abductors,” she said.
“The factory officials initially informed us about the attack on July 1. Since then, we have not been told anything about ransom or negotiations by the factory, the Embassy, or the MEA,” Ms. Joshi said. The two other abducted persons belong to Telangana and Odisha.
