Updated
Hyderabad, Dec 15 (IANS): Ankireddy Vishwakant, the Indian among the hostages in a Sydney cafe, is reported to be among 13 the people rescued by Australian security forces as they stormed the premises.
Vishwakant's friend and colleague Chakravarthi told a TV channel from Sydney Monday night that he could identify him in the TV footage of the hostages emerging safely from the cafe.
The family is however still waiting for an official word.
An employee of software giant Infosys, he hails from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
The company had informed his family about the incident.
Anikreddy's father Ishwar Reddy had earlier said that he had left for the office in the morning and around 10 a.m. had gone to the cafe when a gunman took him and 29 others hostage.
Ishwar Reddy spoke to his daughter-in-law in Sydney over phone to gather more details.
She told him that the police officers assured her that the operation to secure safe release of hostages would be over in a day.
Anikreddy was living in Australia for six years along with his wife. The couple has a daughter. He has been working on Infosys project works with the banks in Australia.
After working for a project with National Australian Bank in Melbourne, he had moved about a year ago to Sydney to work as senior project manager with another bank.
Ishwar Reddy said his son was recently conferred Australian citizenship.
Hailing from Gangireddy Palle in Guntur district, Anikreddy is an alumnus of BITS Pilani. He worked for a couple of banks in the US before returning to India for marriage seven years ago.
He secured a job in Infosys, which sent him to Australia for project work.
Infosys said in a statement: "We can confirm that one Infosys employee is among the hostages at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney. We are also in the process of confirming the whereabouts of all our other employees in the city."
"We are in constant touch with the local authorities and Indian Consulate in Sydney for updates on the situation on ground."
It added: "We hope that this situation gets resolved peacefully and at the earliest. Our prayers are with the families of all involved."