UK, NRI was kidnapped by Assam rebels for ransom of $100,000
LONDON, April 15, 2004
(NRI sources)An Indian-born London retired school teacher, Pratul Deb, 67, and his driver were abducted at gunpoint March 17 in the northeastern Assam region. Mr Deb was with his driver on the way to visit a factory when he ran into what looked like an Indian army roadblock.
Three gunmen in combat gear abducted the men and two witnesses. They were taken to a hilltop camp where five more gunmen were waiting. Within hours the witnesses and the driver, with a ransom note for £60,000, were freed.
Mr Deb, who moved to Britain with his family in 1985, made frequent trips to his home village in Assam to see his elderly mother. He had also invested in local timber projects to help find work for members of the Reang tribe.
The kidnappers are believed to belong to the Bru National Liberation Front who want an autonomous state for the Reang people.
Although Scotland Yard warned Mr Deb's family not to attempt a rescue, his wife Shibani and eldest daughter Sipra, a 31-year-old PhD student at Leeds University, hired a UK private security firm to travel with them to Assam.
In telephone calls with intermediaries, the kidnappers reduced their demand to £10,000, payable in two installments. When £5,000 was handed over at a bus stop on March 29, they reneged on a pledge to prove Mr Deb was alive.
Then, after arranging a face-toface meeting, the captors snatched a further £5,000 at gunpoint and fled. Since then, the Deb family has heard nothing.
His youngest daughter, 28-year old lawyer told that his father has a serious heart problem. She is worried that her father might have died without his medication and rebels may have dumped him.
She approached to British Foreign office for help but they said, "He is an Indian citizen in India so it is not their jurisdiction." Then she asked to the Indian authorities for help, they said that he is a (NRI) non-resident Indian so it's not their responsibility.
"Nobody will help us, neither the Indian nor British governments, and the Red Cross say they can't help so we are left to go it alone."
Dear NRIs: This is a serious matter for NRIs. It can happen to any one. If we don't get together to fight these kind of cases, this will be general practice by kidnappers in India to make easy money.
Send your opinion- kidnapped@NRIinternet.com
