Three traders who were kidnapped by militants on January 10 were released by their captors in the South Garo hills in the wee hours today after their families allegedly paid ransom, a police officer said.
The traders, part of a group of eleven, were kidnapped from near the Telekali Reserve Forest.
Eight others belonging to the group managed to escape after abandoning their vehicle, Superintendent of Police, South Garo Hills, Anand Mishra said.
The three were sighted near the village of Rongrikemgre in the South Garo Hills around 6 am today, Mishra said.
The three traders, who were taken at gun point and later released by the militants, are all from Dalu in West Garo Hills district and have been identified as Tamal Dey (38) of Killapara, Dulan Mahanta (36) also of Killapara and Durgapada Dutta (35) of Chaipani.
All three belonged to the West Garo Hills district.
Their release came after the family members allegedly paid a ransom of Rs 25000 to their captors.
The initial demand by the militantswas rumoured to be about Rs 10 lakhs. The demand was later scaled down, the officer said.
"We received information of their release this morning after they were spotted near Telekali (near the place of kidnapping). Our sources confirmed that an amount of Rs 25000 was paid to the kidnappers," Mishra said.
Police had earlier identified the group behind the kidnapping as cross border criminals who were later helped by the ASAK outfit's commander, Reding T Sangma, who allegedly negotiated the ransom amount on behalf of the kidnappers.
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