Smita holds her husband Ajit Sinha’s photo at her house in Danapur. Picture by J Prakash

Patna, Feb. 22: After a mariner, an engineer from Bihar is in trouble in foreign land. The techie is stuck in Libya capital, where the bodies of protesters shot to death by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi were left on the streets today.

The Danapur-based family members of the engineer, Ajit Sinha, last heard him yesterday. His cellphone is switched off since then.

The current crisis in Libya, where citizens of the north African country are desperately seeking an end to Gaddafi’s dictatorship, has sent shivers down the spine of Ajit’s father, Shiv Dayal Sinha.

Ajit works with India-based Punj Lloyd. The firm is into gas and oil pipeline constructions in Libya.

On Monday, Ajit gave a call to his father saying Libya citizens had blocked all works of his company and they were not being allowed to get out of their camp in Tripoli, the capital of Libya.

Ajit’s family has requested the state and the central government to help the Indians working in Libya to come back home without further delay.

“About 1,400 Indians work in Libya for Punj Lloyd. Of them, 20 are from Bihar. My son is one among them. Ajit called up yesterday morning and said that residents of Tripoli had forcibly blocked and stopped all work of Punj. The workers have been confined to their camp in the capital. They were not allowed to move out,” Shiv said.

Ajit, 35, is married to Smita Sinha, who also lives in Danapur. The couple has two children — 12-year-old daughter Janya and six-year-old Jitesh.

“The situation in Libya is turning critical each day. Ajit’s phone is switched off. We cannot contact him. We are trying him since morning. We are following the news channels and the Internet,” Shiv said.

He added: “People are getting killed and the protest in Libya is turning violent. Yesterday, Ajit had told me over the phone that many companies were sending foreign workers back to their respective countries. But Punj has taken little initiative. The headquarters of the company is in Noida. We have tried to contact the company representatives here but in vain. The wait for Ajit is scaring us,” the sobbing father said.

Ajit’s better-half, Smita, said: “The government should ask the company to make the necessary arrangements so that Indians can be brought home safely from Libya. Many airlines have already cancelled flights to Libya. The Indian government should act before it is too late.”

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