Three Indian relatives go missing while on way to US, then a ransom demand from Ethiopia
Police confirmed that the three have been reported missing and that their whereabouts have not been known since September 22.
PTC News Desk: Three people from Gujarat who were allegedly trying to reach the US through an illegal route have gone missing after arriving in Ethiopia. Their families claim they were kidnapped and that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of ₹1 crore.
The missing people are Rutvik Jansari from Vadsma village in Mehsana, Mamta Chavda, originally from Mehsana and now living in Ahmedabad, and Mayuri from Gandhinagar. The three are related to each other.
According to their families, they left India on September 20 with the help of agents. Mamta’s father, Kiritbhai Chauhan, said the family had paid around ₹70 lakh per person to arrange the journey to the US.
After reaching Ethiopia, the three were allegedly held captive. Their families said the kidnappers demanded ₹1 crore for their release. Rutvik’s grandfather, Kanubhai Jansari, claimed that ₹60 lakh had already been paid to the kidnappers, although he did not provide further details.
A local agent, Alpesh Panchal, also said that a ₹1 crore ransom had allegedly been demanded.
Police confirmed that the three have been reported missing and that their whereabouts have not been known since September 22.
Mehsana’s Langhnaj police station Inspector A M Gehlot said Mamta’s father filed a missing persons complaint on Tuesday. According to the complaint, Mamta’s husband, Chirag Kumar, had travelled to the US on a student visa around six months ago.
Mamta had reportedly tried several times to obtain a US visa but was unsuccessful. Her family then allegedly contacted intermediaries to arrange her journey through an illegal route.
Police said the journey reportedly cost around ₹75 lakh per person, and Mamta, Rutvik and Mayuri left their homes on September 20.
Kiritbhai last spoke to Mamta on September 22. After that, the family could not contact any of the three, leading them to approach the police.
According to the families, an agent from Mehsana helped arrange the journey and connected the trio with another agent from Vadodara.