Maharashtra Indian Forest Service officer Vilas Bardekar, who was released after being held captive allegedly by Bodo militants for 83 days, says the militants did not demand ransom for his release.
"After I was abducted by a group seven to eight youngsters aged between 19 and 25 from a forest near Devmara village (Arunachal Pradesh), I was taken deep into the forest.
During these 83 days, they changed about seven locations, sensing the movement of security troops," Bardekar told reporters.
"The militants holding AK47s never demanded money neither from me and I think nor from the Maharashtra government. They thought I was from the media following which they kidnapped me and kept me in their camps," he said when asked if there was truth in the reports that Rs 5 crore ransom was demanded to ensure his release.
Visibly relieved Bardekar met Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam.
Bardekar, a 1984 batch IFS (Indian Forest Service) officer, was abducted on May 12 from a forest in Arunachal's West Kameng district while he was studying butterfly species there. Bardekar, Joint-Director of Social Forestry in Maharastra, was released yesterday at Dhekiajuli in Assam.
"Though they told me that I would be safe, I was scared that they would not let me go home and kill me. I was not sure I would be back home alive. In fact, minutes after they released me at Dhekiajuli village in Assam, I thought they would shoot me," he said.
"I missed my daughter the most during those 83 days in captivity," Bardekar said, thanking the government for facilitating his release.
"I told the young militants that whatever they had done was wrong and when I asked them what they want they did not say anything. They never ill-treated me and talked to me politely," he recalled adding that "Sometimes I hoped that they may release me alive and fortunately that is what they did."
The forest officer recounted that a militant had gone to a village to fetch food for him. "But later I was told that the militant was killed by the security agencies," he said.
"They (militants) don't even know what they were fighting for. They don't know if they want separate Assam, Arunachal Pradesh or anything else," Bardekar added.
Bardekar's relative Sudhakar Suradkar, a retired IPS officer, said the state government had plans to send a state reserve police team to carry out rescue operation but refused the idea due to various reasons.
It was continuous co-ordinated effort by various security agencies that led to the release of the forest officer, Suradkar said.
"Not only people in Maharashtra, even people and students in the eastern states held protests demanding his release and supported a lot," Suradkar, who constantly with security agencies, added.
