Border: With almost four months gone, there is no news on the two drivers, a Bhutanese and an Indian, who went missing from Shantipur near Gelephu.

In the last ransom call family members received from kidnapper towards the end of September, the brother of the Bhutanese driver had tried to negotiate with kidnappers. But before he could explain the call was ended and the mobile switched off.

“Since then the number they called from is switched off,” brother Ratu said.

The wife of the driver, Kinley Om, 36, who is in Paro currently with her two children, said that she had not left her phone unattended for the last four months. She is hoping it will ring anytime and would be able to hear from her husband.

“They (kidnappers) never called again. I don’t know if my husband is still alive,” she said adding that the silence was worrying her. She said all those who were abducted earlier were released in one or two months’ time.

The kidnappers had demanded Nu 2M each for their release in September.

Meanwhile, family members of the 14-year-old student who was abducted on December 16 night from Purano Basti in Gelephu have not heard anything on their son or from the kidnappers. The last call they received was on December 26 when the kidnappers demanded Nu 500,000 for his release.

“I’m expecting them to call so that we could negotiate the ransom amount,” father of the student, TB Chhetri, said. “It is more worrying when they don’t call.”

TB Chhetri has also been visiting Gelephu police station often for updates from the Indian counterparts.

By Nirmala Pokhrel

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