Local entrepreneurs are terrified after Suresh Kedia, a member of the Kedia Organisation, was kidnapped from Baghaban along the Kalaiya-Mahagadhi road in Bara on Thursday evening.

A team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Binod Sharma has gone India to search for Kedia. The local administration has also asked the Consulate General’s Office of India in Birgunj to help the search team. The whereabouts of Kedia are unknown.

An armed gang of six-seven men, who came on a white vehicle with an Indian registration number, abducted the 56-year-old businessman, who was going to Birgunj from Kalaiya in his car (Ba 10 Cha 7240). 

The abductors shot at Shyam Unesh Kanu, Kedia’s driver, before taking him under control. Police said the driver, shot in the temple, is recovering at Chitwan Medical College, Bharatpur.

“The kidnappers are taking advantage of the open border and lax security situation,” said a representative of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

There is a sense of fear among the traders in Birgunj following the abduction. One of them seeking anonymity said they felt insecure to come out of their houses.

The Indian border is 14 kilometres away from where Kedia was abducted. Bahiyaram Sah, a local, said there are two posts of Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force on the stretch to the Indian territory. According to a police official, Kedia had visited Bariyapur several times in the past few days.

Parsa Superintendent of Police Rajubabu Shrestha said they were coordinating with the Indian authorities to look for Kedia.

Locals picketed the Telkuwa police station and obstructed the road on Friday, alleging the police’s inaction to search for Kedia soon after his abduction. They claimed to have informed the police about the incident but security personnel had failed to stop the vehicle carrying the businessman across the border.

Bara SP Narendra Prasad Uprety said they were informed late. A temporary post of the Armed Police on Rampur Road was displaced during the Madhes agitation.

Abduction condemned

KATHMANDU: Various organisations and the ruling CPN-UML on Friday condemned the abduction of Kedia.

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry has sought immediate release of Kedia.

In a statement, the UML urged the government and security agencies to speed up effort for Kedia’s release. (PR)