Security personnel patrol Ultapani in Kokrajhar on Friday. Picture by UB Photos
Guwahati/Kokrajhar, Feb 12 : Negotiations to release the three WWF volunteers are stuck over ransom, with the abductors firm on their Rs 1 crore demand, while a section of the security establishment has questioned the rationale of paying ransom to abductors when there are forces deployed in large numbers to maintain order.
Five days after they were taken hostage from Ultapani in Ripu-Chirang reserve forest, Gautam Kishore Sarma, Pranjal Kumar Saikia and Syed Naushad Zaman still cannot be traced, though a joint team of police, the army, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the BSF have begun a search operation in the area.
The three were whisked away along with three girls last Sunday when they ventured deep into the forest as part of a tiger census project.
While the three girls were released on Tuesday, the boys remain in captivity.
“A search operation is on. We are trying our best to secure their release. We don’t want any harm to the boys,” a senior police official said.
Cooped up in a Kokrajhar hotel, the boys’ families and colleagues from WWF are waiting with bated breath for any piece of information.
“We are hoping that something positive comes out of the operation soon and they are released,” said Syed Kambruz Zaman, elder brother of Naushad. Kambruz, a resident of Golaghat, has been in Kokrajhar since Monday.
“We have been expecting a positive outcome since last evening but the wait seems endless,” a WWF official said.
“We appeal to the abductors to release our volunteers. They are here to do their work as volunteers for the conservation of wildlife. They have nothing against anybody, so no harm should come to them,” said D.K. Dutta, a member of the WWF.
The kidnappers, however, are rigid on their ransom demand, though senior BTC leaders, including deputy chief Kampha Borgoyary, WWF officials and senior police officials, are trying their best to negotiate, a source said.
While the boys’ families are pinning their hopes on a successful negotiation, questions are being raised about the space that “peace talks” and “ceasefires” create for such criminal activities by militants.
Most fear abduction will emerge as the next big menace after militancy, which is partly funded by ransom money, reflecting a systemic failure.
“We are here because there is militancy and to flush them out and restore peace so that development can take place. But this is not the reality. Now negotiations are being held to free hostages from militants by paying money. What is the use of deploying the army and paramilitary forces when you can free people by paying a ransom?” an army officer deployed in lower Assam districts asked.
“If the militants continue to get funds they need to sustain their activities, how can this cult of violence be wiped off?” a source asked.
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