57 Nepali, turned hostages in India, return home
35 people, who were held hostage in Kashipur, Uttarakhand, were rescued last Thursday, and another 22 people were rescued from different places on Sunday.
Kathmandu: 57 Nepali people, who were held hostage in different places of India, have been rescued and brought to Nepal.
35 people, who were held hostage in Kashipur, Uttarakhand, were rescued last Thursday, and another 22 people were rescued from different places on Sunday. They were brought home from Gaddachauki in the western border town of Kanchanpur on Wednesday.
The Nepal Embassy based in New Delhi said the rescue of those held hostage in various places in Uttarakhand was carried out.
Likewise, Kanchanpur Chief District Officer Laxman Dhakal, Sudurpaschim Province Police Chief DIG Dambar Bahadur BK,
and others welcomed the rescued Nepali people at the Gaddachauki border checkpoint. The rescued people will be sent to their houses on Thursday.
They stated that the young people who reached India were held hostage in various places for months and were treated inhumanely. Among those rescued were 10 from Chitwan, 9 from Kailali, 5 from Sunsari, 4 each from Panchthar, Tehrathum, and Udayapur, 3 each from Dang, Syangja, and Banke, 2 each from Doti, Taplejung, and Dhading, and 1 each from Sarlahi, Kaski, Rukum, Baglung, Ilam, and Rupandehi.
According to Nabin Joshi, Director of the social organization 'Con India,' 9 out of the 22 rescued on Sunday were minors, while the rest were Nepalis over the age of 18. Joshi said they were rescued while being taken through a forest area.
Joshi stated that the gang holding them hostage fled after learning that Indian police and a rescue team from Nepal were on their way, and that the remaining Nepalis being held hostage were being relocated elsewhere.
He also said that he has received information about more than 500 other Nepalis being held hostage in India. Joshi added that the gang extorted between Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 70,000 from the hostages.