Agartala, Mar 9 (UNI) In a joint operation of Tripura police and its Assam counterpart on Saturday night, two youths from Assam were rescued from an abandoned house in the Rangamatia area of Sonamura in Sepahijala district with hands and feet tied up who were allegedly kidnapped last month.
Police also arrested a hotel manager identified as Yasin Mian in connection with the crime. The abducted youths were rescued from a house in an isolated location of the village owned by Yasin. Police raided the hotel based on the statement of two accused who were arrested earlier and detained the manager for his inconsistent statement.
The rescued youths were admitted to the hospital and are undergoing treatment. Reportedly, the youths were initially kept captive in the hotel; later, when police launched an extensive search across the town, they were shifted to the abandoned house.
Police earlier arrested two accused, Manik Mia and Ripon Mia, brothers-in-law of Nasima Begum, Panchayat Pradhan of Kalapania in Sonamura. However, the prime accused of the crime, husband of Nasima Begum, Abul Kalam, has not yet been arrested.
Faiz Ahmed and Alal Uddin, both drivers by profession, hail from Sonatula and Bahadurpur villages of the Patharkandi in South Assam and were allegedly lured into Tripura with the promise of work and later held for ransom since February 8. Two days later, their family received a call, which claimed both of them had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore for their release.
After several rounds of negotiations, the demand was reduced to Rs 10 lakh. The victims' families transferred Rs 5 lakh to the accused's account online but weren't able to manage the remaining amount.
Finally, the elder brother of Fazi, Burhan Uddin, approached SP Sepahijala, who promptly ordered an operation to nab the culprits.
Acting on the police's instructions, Burhan Uddin contacted the accused and informed them that he had brought the ransom money to Charilam Bazar. Taking the bait, Manik Mia and Ripon Mia arrived at the location in a car to collect the money, at which point they were caught red-handed by the police.
UNI BB ARN