Police officials told PTI that the abductors spoke to the brother of Sapan Kumar Roy by phone on Sunday informing him that Rs 30 lakh was their final figure and there was no question of reducing the amount.
The abductors and the captives were recently seen in the jungle near Zopui hamlet in Bangladesh, the police said.
"They might still be hiding in the area as the woods near Zopui and Thangnang were the areas known as 'No Man's land' and used as safe haven by insurgent groups from the north east", the police said.
Two timber traders Sapan Kumar Roy (52) of Dosda Bazar in North Tripura district, Sankar Nath (35) of Rangamati in Assam's Karimganj district and their driver Govinda Nath (35) of Dharmanagar in North Tripura district were abducted at gun-point by five people on November 25.
Massive combing operation launched by the state police to secure the release of the hostages was yet to yield any result as the militants coulc easily cross the porous border with Bangladesh and Tripura.
