Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, May 6: An employee of Udipta Energy, a Sivasagar (Assam)-based company, who had been abducted by unidentified persons on 2 April from Diyun circle in Changlang district, was released on 29 April.
The employee, identified as Kashyap Barua (27), was working in the capacity of a mechanic in the Oil India Limited’s (OIL) Kumchai development project, which falls within the OIL’s 113 sq kms Ningru petroleum mining lease zone, spread over Changlang and Namsai districts.
According to Diyun police station OC Kashyap, Barua was kidnapped by two armed men while he was travelling in a vehicle from Manabhum to Diyun.
“As per the victim, two masked men stopped the vehicle at gunpoint and, after questioning him, asked the driver to leave. The men later took him into the forest, where another masked accomplice was waiting for them. Since the victim was a non-local, he could not identify the location where his abductors had kept him,” the OC said.
He said that 28 days later the abductors abandoned Barua around 10 kms away from Diyun town, at a place called Sukha Nala. Some locals alerted the police after they found him roaming around alone in the deserted area.
The OC said since no rebel group has taken responsibility for the crime, as they often do, nothing can be said yet.
“There are a lot of details in the case which are still unclear. However, our preliminary investigation suggests that it could be the handiwork of a few miscreants and not any organized group,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking to The Arunachal Times, Changlang SP Romil Baniya informed that, contrary to the reports published by some news agencies and sites, the employee was released by the abductors on 29 April.
“Barua was released by the abductors during the same month, and he has since returned to his parents,” informed the SP.
“Some news agencies and sites may have not updated their report or sought proper information from the concerned state police department,” he added.
When asked if ransom was paid to the abductors for Barua’s release, Baniya said the police would need to get more details from the employee’s company in the regard.
The SP, however, said the abductors might have abandoned him because of pressure from the police department.
