IL&FS hostages: Ethiopian police arrests officials unpaid wages

Even as five IL&FS employees continue to remain in captivity of unpaid staff in Ethiopia, the local police have taken into custody three Indian officials of the infrastructure company over non-payment of taxes and workers' salaries, a source said.

Late last month, seven Indian workers of an IL&FS subsidiary - IL&FS Transportation Network (ITNL) - were taken a hostage at three of its sites in Ethiopia's Oromia and Amhara states by unpaid local staff.

The source said IL&FS had 15 Indian employees in Ethiopia, seven of whom were held captive by the local staff. Of the seven, two were released last week on the medical ground.

The three employees taken into custody after out of the eight employees who were not held captive, he said.

Local workers are allegedly holding them in captivity in protest for not having paid salaries since the past two months.

ITNL, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Elsamex SA, has been executing road projects across three sites in Ethiopia.

IL&FS Group and its various subsidiaries, including ITNL, are facing a liquidity crisis and have defaulted on various debt payments.

As of October 8, 2018, the total debt of the group stood at Rs 94,215.6 crore.