Police have arrested a man on the charge of kidnapping two people and holding them hostage.

A police team arrested 29-year-old Santosh Basnet of Barahachhetra Municipality-5 from ward 1 of the municipality on Monday.

He was paraded at a press meet on Thursday after Sunsari District Court remanded him to seven days of judicial custody.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Raj Kumar Rai, information officer of District Police Office Sunsari, a group of four people—Saugat Bhandari, Chhabilal Acharya, Hari Acharya and Sunil Giri—had gone to a bordering Indian market on Monday.

A gang of seven people including a person named Imtiaz took control of the motorcycle that Saugat and Chhabilal were riding and kidnapped them at gunpoint.

The kidnappers demanded Rs5 million ransom from Saugat’s family the next day. His family immediately handed over Rs 150,000 to the kidnappers after they threatened to kill him.

The duo escaped from the criminals’ clutches and entered Nepal safely on Wednesday. Then, they lodged a complaint with the police.