Abducted wife, daughters kept hostages in Assam

Guwahati, Jul 23 (UNI) In a possible case of human trafficking, a woman and her two minor daughters were reportedly kidnapped from Uttar Pradesh and being kept hostages here for the last two months.

A brick kiln worker from UP, Ram Kishan, today informed the media here that his wife and two daughters were being kept hostages in the Gandhi Basti area of the city by one Lakhan Singh alias Parveen, with the UP police and Assam police being of little help.

His wife, Kamlesh, and daughters Anju (14) and Tanu (4) had gone missing on May 22 from Suroorpur Kalan in UP's Baghpat district, when Kamlesh was in the brick kiln.

Ram received a call on his mobile on May 27 from his daughter Anju, who told him that they were being kept at the Gandhi Basti area in Guwahati and had been brought here by Lakhan and his two accomplices, Sanjay and Rahul, by intoxicating them.

Ram informed that Lakhan was a resident of a nearby village in UP, who had earlier lured away two other girls from the area. They were later rescued from Jammu and Kashmir.

After much haggling, Ram got a case registered at the Baghpat police station. He alleged that police were demanding Rs 50,000 for pursing the investigation in Guwahati.

Ram visited Guwahati in June but had to return empty handed as he did not get any assistance. He returned on July 11 and since then had been pursuing the case with the help of a local social activist.

The Chandmari police station had registered the case last week, he said, adding that the police had assured of results in a week with the leads in the case, including the mobile phone number of the abductor.

The police had, however, barred Ram from approaching the media for help.

He had also approached the National Commission for Women and lodged an official complaint with it.

UNI SG KK/src SW BD1757