Pune resident Vilas Bardekar was taken captive from forest in Arunachal Pradesh on May 12.
Senior Maharashtra government forest official and butterfly expert Vilas Bardekar was released by suspected National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants on Sunday.
The retired Indian Forest Service officer was set free at Dhekiajuli in Assam. According to officials, the intelligence bureau had played a vital role in his release.
Bardekar, joint director of Maharashtra social forestry department, was taken captive on May 12 from Kamengbari Reserve Forest in Arunachal Pradesh where he was on a private visit from Pune to photograph butterfly varieties.
He was put up for the night at former panchayat member Lama Norbu’s house at Daimari village and was to go to the Eagle Nest Wildlife Sanctuary to photograph butterflies there.
A group of 12 NDFB militants armed with automatic weapons and grenades had barged into Lama’s residence, beat up a forest department worker and a guide before taking Bardekar away.
SP Tamang, superintendent of police, West Kameng, said Badekar was sent to Pune on Monday. “A police team accompanied him to Guwahati after his release and from there he was sent to Pune with his family. The team had reached Guwahati on Sunday evening itself,” said Tamang.
The area from where Bardekar was abducted is notorious for NDFB activities that extend from the foothills of Bhalukpong to Balemu along the Indo-Bhutan border.
Jitmal Doley, superintendent of police of Sonitpur district in Assam, which borders Arunachal Pradesh, said they were aware of Bardekar’s release. “However, we were not informed by the Arunachal Pradesh police,” Doley said.
Security agencies of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, along with the army, had put in efforts to track down Bardekar. Arunachal Pradesh home minister Tako Dabi had made fervent appeals to the abductors to release him.
Though official sources said his release was because of the relentless efforts by the two neighbouring states, unofficial sources claimed that Rs1.4 crore was paid as ransom to the ultras for setting him free.
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