11 Nepali hostages in Serbia

According to family sources, 9 lakh rupees was sent to three persons on Saturday night itself. The victim's family revealed that the money was delivered to the trafficker through a Nepalese agent living in Romania.

45-year-old Amashu Rajwansi of Birtamod Municipality-2, who arrived in Serbia in the second week of March last year after paying Rs. Amashu, who reached Serbia through Vigyan Khanal, the operator of the FS Workers Agency in Kathmandu, was told that she would be paid 500 euros. Earlier, the same Khanal took Amashu to Serbia after waiting for almost 14 months saying that he would take her to Romania.

Amashu, who had taken loans from cooperatives, microfinance, etc., and went abroad, was promised by the Nepali relatives in Romania that they would take her to Egypt by showing greed for a good job and salary. A team of 11 including 25-year-old Pashupati Rajvanshi, 29-year-old Dipesh Rajvanshi of Bahradashi-5, and Bam Rajvanshi of Shivasatakshi municipality, who arrived in Serbia with Amashu, were about to go to Egypt. But the smuggler who was supposed to take them to Egypt took them hostage.

Last Friday Mrs. Chancery suddenly received a call from Pashupati's WhatsApp number. Chansari, who was happy after receiving her husband's phone call, was shocked when she found out that the Nepalese along with her husband were hostages. The trafficker threatened to kill the husband if he did not send the ransom amount of three lakh rupees to him on the phone within three days. Pashupati also cried and told Chansari that they had tied their hands and feet in the forest and threatened to shoot them if they did not pay the money.

"He cried saying that if we don't pay 3 lakh within 3 days, we will be shot and killed," Chansari told Kantipur. Chansari narrated her husband's screaming phone call to her family and relatives. Threats on the trafficker's phone continued till Saturday night.

'The hostage takers sometimes spoke Hindi and sometimes Arabic', Amashu's brother Gobinlal said, 'They said to send the money quickly or we can kill them.'

"He started cutting his hands, now he is cutting off his head, I am the first number to be killed", Pashupati was repeatedly telling his wife on the phone. Restlessness increased in the family throughout Friday night, no one in the family could sleep due to the fear of killing. In the middle of the night, he reached the local police office, Birtamod, and filed a complaint with the police, demanding to save his life. However, in the case of Serbia, the Jhapa police could not give anything but consolation. DSP Prakash Bista of Birtamode said that the family has informed through a petition that Nepali hostages are being coordinated with related agencies for rescue.

It has been found that human traffickers are active there by sending people from Serbia, Romania and other countries to Egypt, Italy, Malta, Hungary and other countries. The family members of the victims claim that Nepalis are also involved in human trafficking gangs. It is said that the gang also uses Arabs and Pakistanis. According to Khanal, the owner of the agency that flies to Serbia, 2,000 to 2,200 Euros are charged for the delivery to Egypt, an Arab country that is about 2,101 km away from Serbia. He said, "I sent them legally to Serbia, if they try to escape from there and go to another country, we cannot take responsibility for them."

Amashu, who has been making a living by shipping to the local agricultural wholesale market, wanted to go to Romania even though he was looking for a loan in the hope of good earnings. It was the sapna (imaginary) Rajvanshi of Mechinagar-15 that brought Amashu in contact with Vigyan who had a house in Jhapa, Dhulabari. Amashu's wife Dhirakumari said, "When we had to go abroad, we raised a loan to go to Romania." But after Amashu handed over the money and the passport, Vigyan said, "We have to wait for a few days, the government is a bit tight in Romania now".

But even after waiting for 14 months, he was not able to fly to Romania. After that, science told him that it was not immediately possible to fly to Romania. However, going to Romania's neighboring country Serbia is a good thing. He reached Serbia after making a new offer saying that the salary is good, I can fly for the same amount of money.

Pashupati, Dipesh, Bam and others who could not go to Romania also agreed for Serbia. The agent had already collected 6.5 lakh rupees from everyone. Deepak and Amashu flew to Serbia in the second week of March last, while Pashupati reached Serbia only in May last.

Pashupati, who was supporting his family by driving a tractor, also went abroad in the hope of earning more. Pashupati flew abroad with a mortgage of 8 acres of land. But after they did not get the job and pay as they said in Serbia, they left their job only a week ago and ran away saying they were going to Egypt.