Highlights:
Three Gujarat residents who reportedly traveled toward the United States through an illegal route have gone missing after reaching Ethiopia, with their families alleging that they were kidnapped and that their abductors are demanding $104,000 for their release.
The three, two women and a man who are related to each other, reportedly left Gujarat on September 20 after their families paid agents large sums to arrange their journey to the US. Police said their whereabouts have remained unknown since September 22. Their families say they paid everything they had to get their children to the United States. What they allegedly got instead was a ransom demand.
All three missing people are related to one another, have been identified as Rutvik Jansari of Vadsma village in Mehsana; Mamta Chavda, originally from Mehsana and now living in Ahmedabad; and Mayuri, from Gandhinagar, the state capital.
They left with help from an agent in Mehsana district, who allegedly connected them to another agent in Vadodara, their relatives told reporters.
A fortune paid, and then a ransom
Mamta's father, Kiritbhai Chauhan, said the family paid an agent around Rs 70 lakh for each of the three to be sent to the US. After reaching Ethiopia, he claimed, the three were held captive and the kidnappers demanded Rs 1 crore to free them.
"We have already paid huge money to send them (to the US). We have nothing left and are helpless. We request the government to bring our three children back safely," Chauhan said in an emotional appeal.
Rutvik's grandfather, Kanubhai Jansari, said the same Rs 1 crore demand was made, and claimed that Rs 60 lakh had already been handed over to the abductors. He did not share further details.
Even a local agent, Alpesh Panchal, told reporters that the kidnappers in the African nation had demanded Rs 1 crore.
A desperate bid to reunite
The journey appears to have begun with one woman's attempt to join her husband. According to the police complaint, Mamta's husband, Chirag Kumar, went to the US on a student visa about six months ago. Mamta allegedly tried several times to get an American visa but was turned down, after which her family approached intermediaries to arrange her travel through an illegal route, said Inspector A M Gehlot of Langhnaj police station.
The price was allegedly fixed at Rs 75 lakh per person, and Mamta, Rutvik and Mayuri left home on September 20.
Two days later, the calls stopped.
"On September 22, Kiritbhai spoke to his daughter Mamta. After that, there has been no contact with her. A missing person's complaint was registered at the Langhnaj police station after family members failed to establish contact with the three," the inspector said.
Mamta's father filed the complaint on Tuesday.
Questions that demand answers
The case raises troubling questions: How did agents in Mehsana and Vadodara allegedly arrange such journeys for enormous sums? What happened to the three once they reached Ethiopia? And who will be held accountable?
For now, the families say they have nothing left to give, and are waiting for the government to step in and bring their children home.
