“I had almost lost all hope that I would embrace my son again after the kidnappers ignored us even though we were about to send the ransom money they had demanded. But beyond all expectations, he is arriving home today,” said 52-year-old Kamal Devi Hachhethu while waiting for her son at Tribhuvan International Airport, Thursday.

Along with Hachhethu, family members of all three kidnap-freed students who were returning home were desperate to see their loved ones, and waiting with marigold garlands, shawls and vermillion powder in hand. 

As the three students -- Karna Hachhethu, Bibhus Rijal and Ronesh Shrestha --marched toward the arrival gate surrounded by security personnel, they burst into tears and cries of joy. 

“It is only lucky mothers who get their sons back from the jaws of death. Thank god for saving my son. Thanks be to the police,” Kamal Devi murmured while hugging her only son. “We were about to sell our house but now we have gotten our son back without paying the ransom,” she said repeatedly while sharing her happiness.

The three students of ABAC College under Assumption University in Thailand were kidnapped on December 19 and rescued safely after about 84 hours in captivity, through a joint operation of Thai and Nepali police. They were kidnapped by individuals they had known for the past nine months, after they were promised a party at a pub to celebrate their receiving Australian visas.

“We trusted them too much, and relied on them even though the place was unfamiliar to us. I have deep regrets about that and I learnt my lesson,” Rijal, an electrical and telecom engineering student, said recalling the incident.

After they were taken to a narrow room in a villa in the Mooban area of Bangkok and blindfolded, they were informed that they had been kidnapped for ransom, he said adding, the kidnappers did not subject them to physical torture but compelled them to tell their parents over the phone that they were being tortured.

On December 20, the parents of the students confirmed that they would send the ransom amount as demanded and requested not to harm anyone. But after that the kidnappers responded properly neither to the students nor to their parents.

“We were horrified to see them unresponsive toward us and feared that they had harmed our sons,” Kamal Devi Hachhethu said. The three also felt that they needed to attempt an escape but the kidnappers guarded them from around the corner. “On Sunday [December 21], they did not talk about ransom, but left us after giving us sleeping pills for about 24 hours,” Ronesh Shrestha recalls. 

On the afternoon of December 22, they heard people calling out ‘police police’ and peeping from the window they saw some military people jumping over the boundary walls, Ronesh said, adding that at first they thought those were other members of the kidnap gang. But eventually the newcomers identified themselves as Thai police. 

“My happiness knew no bounds when I first came out of the room after 84 hours and saw some of my teachers and friends from Nepal,”said Shrestha, a second-year hydropower engineering student.

Police had raided the house and arrested two of the kidnappers while the other members were able to escape. 

Within 12 days of the kidnapping, police arrested 10 members of an alleged kidnapping racket, including a Nepali citizen, in cooperation with the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police. The Nepali was identified as Sujhan Yadav, a regional leader of the Matrika Yadav-led Maoist outfit. Sujhan Yadav acted as intermediary in collecting ransom from the parents in Nepal.

The four masterminds of the kidnap were Umeed Ali, Ali Butt, Aamir Arshad and Imran Butt, all originally from Pakistan, and they were arrested while trying to escape from Thailand. Umeed Ali was believed to be the kingpin.

Superintendent of Police Pitambar Adhikari, who represented CIB in the joint police operation, said it was a pleasing moment for Nepal Police to rescue the students from abroad and see them reunited with their families. 

“We want to continue our studies with some precautions but it is up to our families to decide if we need to return or change to colleges in safer places,” all three students said unanimously.

Published on: 16 January 2015 | Kantipur