Dehra Dun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri would hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for securing the release of kidnapped 18-member Indian crew on board a ship hijacked by by armed Somalian pirates.

An assurance to this effect was given by Khanduri to Seema Goyal, wife of kidnapped captain P K Goyal following a meeting
between the two here on Saturday evening, officials on Sunday said.

Khanduri said he would explore all avenues so that all the Indian crew members, including Capt Goyal who belongs to Dehra Dun, can be released at early as possible.

Goyal, Master of ship Stolt Valor, which was hijacked near the Gulf of Aden by Somlian pirates last month, along with other crew members are suffering the ordeal as they are running short of food and even drining sea water.

The ship was carrying chemicals from the US to India.

Source : DNA