Tea estate worker abducted by ULFA (I) rebels released, given return fare

The victim stated that he was kidnapped on the evening of October 11 and was released after twelve days of abduction by the militants, with a fare of Rs 600 to return home.

A tea estate worker who was kidnapped by suspected ULFA(I) rebels was released on Wednesday in Arunachal Pradesh, 12 days after his abduction.

“They gave me Rs 600 for the travel back home from Arunachal Pradesh to Tinsukia,” Gauranga Deb, the head fitter at the Sankar Tea Estate in Tilap in Tinsukia who was abducted on October 11 said on Thursday after his release. Police said he boarded a bus from neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and got off at Doom Dooma town in Tinsukia on Wednesday.

According to the Crime in India 2017, released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), on Monday, Assam at 23.9 has the highest rate of cases of kidnapping and abduction in the country with 7857 such cases in 2017.

Deb said he was abducted from the manager’s office on the evening of October 11. “Bade Sahab (Big Boss), Sunitpol Bhuyan asked me to go with them. The men then surrounded me and took me along,” he said.

Bhuyan said when the armed kidnappers came they first encountered him and another employee one Z Ali. Bhyuan said that the kidnappers wanted to take Ali with them. Since Ali was in shorts, they asked him to go change into trousers. Ali did not return and that is when Deb turned up. “Then they decided to take him. I was at gunpoint,” Bhuyan said.

Deb was made to walk at least four hours the evening he was abducted before the gang of abductors, four of them armed with guns, decided to halt for the night.

Over the next few days, the same routine continued where Deb and his abductors walked a few hours. “They did not mistreat me,” Deb said.

R Kakoti, additional superintendent of police, Tinsukia, said exact location of where Deb was kept or released is still under investigation. “He was kept in a jungle,” Kakoti said.

Asked if any ransom was paid to secure Deb’s release, Kakoti denied any information and said sustained pressure by the police and the security forces may have forced the rebels to release him. According to the police, they suspect the abductors included ULFA(I) insurgents, including one Rupam Asom, who is said to be active in the area.

Asked about if the police is aware of Deb’s claim that it was tea estate’s manager who told Deb to go with the abductors, Kakoti said, “The police are still investigating the circumstances under which he was abducted.”