On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police Circle, Maharajgunj arrested two persons for their alleged involvement in abducting three kids and holding them hostage.

The kidnapping took place on Tuesday as their parents were in Pokhara. However, after getting a call for ransom from kidnappers, they returned the next day and immediately filed a complaint with the police. The kidnappers, after abducting the three minors, had demanded Rs300,000 for their release.

Police arrested the kidnappers the same day and rescued the children from a hotel in Tokha. Those arrested were identified as Aashish Sijapati, 24, of Dhangadi and Binod Thapa Magar, 28, of Gorkha.

“Upon their arrest, it was revealed that the kidnappers were familiar with the children and their mother. Sijapati was very close to the family and lent them money in times of need,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati, spokesperson for the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range.

“Sijapati had lent 200,000 to the victim’s family and they could have kidnapped the children to get the amount back. Further investigation into the case is underway,” said Bogati.

According to police officials, a majority of the kidnapping cases have no involvement of professional criminals. Instead, they are done by relatives or acquaintances of the victim due to financial disputes.

“Kidnappings by professional groups have not been reported for many years and the number of abduction cases is also not much,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Uttam Raj Subedi, chief of the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range. “Our investigations into many cases revealed that the majority of kidnappers are already familiar with the victim’s family and they do it to get back the amount they lent to the victim’s family.”

Although the number of kidnapping cases is not high, they are increasing, police data show.

In the fiscal year 2014-15, altogether 70 kidnapping complaints were registered. The number of such cases rose to 79 the following year.

However, in the fiscal year 2016-17, cases of abduction fell nearly 28 percent to 57. In the fiscal year 2017-18, there were 77 kidnapping cases.

However, the 104 total cases of kidnapping in 2018-19 mean a 48 percent rise in the crime since 2014-15, police data revealed.