New Delhi: A family from Gujarat, who left home dreaming of a better life in America, is now in deep shock. Three relatives who were sent abroad illegally have been allegedly kidnapped after reaching Ethiopia, and the kidnappers have demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore for their release. This case is related to Ritvik Jansari of Vadsama village of Mehsana, Mamta Chavda of Gojriya and Mayuri of Gandhinagar. All three had left from Gujarat on September 20, but when the family lost contact with them four days later, the panicked family immediately approached the police.
According to the police, the daughter of Kiritbhai Chauhan of Gojriya was repeatedly facing difficulty in getting an American visa, after which the family contacted an agent. The agent assured that all three could be transported to America through illegal migration route, and for this an amount of Rs 60 to 75 lakh was fixed from each person. The family paid this huge amount in installments to Alpesh Panchal, a local agent of Dangarwa village.
Journey from Gujarat to Ethiopia
All three first reached Rajasthan from Gujarat and then Jaipur. From there, he took an Etihad Airways flight to Abu Dhabi and finally reached Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. There he was staying in a camp on Swaziland Street, and he also had an e-Visa valid from 19 September to 19 October.
Contact lost suddenly, ransom call came again
On September 22, Mamta had called her father and informed that he had reached Canada and would soon leave for America from there. Soon after, their contact was suddenly lost. The family thought that the three were moving towards the next stage of their journey, but then a man calling himself 'Khan' called and demanded Rs 1 crore in exchange for the release of the three.
The family says that they had trusted the agent during the entire journey and had paid a huge amount. Mamta's father Kiranbhai said that apart from his daughter, his brother-in-law's son and sister-in-law's daughter were also among the three kidnapped. Local agent Alpesh Panchal claims that Rs 60 lakh has been given till now after the kidnapping, yet the demand for Rs 1 crore continues. The police is now investigating the network of agents and the identity of those demanding ransom.