Nobody readily talks about Bhogendra. Located some 16 km south of the East-West Highway, the villagers here suspect every stranger to be a potential offender, and whisper among themselves before deciding to converse.[break]
Yadav´s kidnapping has not been reported to the police. A very few of criminal activities in this village have gone to the notice of the administration.
"It is even dangerous to openly talk about such incidents, let alone lodge complaints," said a paddy trader from Lahan, who helped gather some villagers for a conversation.
This backwoods sharing borders with India does not give any hint that it is a part of the state. Heinous crimes can take place any time from criminals who hide across the border.
Anybody is well aware that he/she could be the next hostage or the target of a bullet. The administration is usually unaware of the incidents, and people take the tragedies as their fate.
The villages that share border with India and that Republica visited are reeling under fear emanating from trans-border crimes. Law and order situation here is different from what it is presumed to be at the district headquarters, where officials claim that security situation has improved in the last couple of months.
Any mishap has to be accepted if people do not want to go the way Bhogendra chose.
Bhogendra, who was relatively well off, is undergoing a hard time to earn a living in another town, said a local. "Somebody told me that he is working as a laborer. But I am not sure," he added.
Many villagers have nearly turned bankrupt either after paying ransom or having to put criminals on regular payroll.
"Any poor guy could meet the fate of Shabhu Gupta here," said a middle-aged person at a tea shop, which is some 100 meters off the no-man´s land. Gupta was slaughtered after he was kidnapped from Gadhiya VDC last month. The kidnappers had reportedly killed him as his family failed to pay Rs 500,000 in ransom.
"Kidnapping is not a big deal for criminals. They just enter our areas and pick up whoever they think possesses money," said a youth. "Till a few years ago, they would rob the houses in night. But kidnapping is an easy way for them these days."
Locals said criminal gangs have kept their point men in villages to collect information and facilitate them in enacting the crimes. Local criminals have reportedly been involved in roadside robberies too."No matter what happens, we can not say anything against those thugs. They flaunt weapons to terrorize us. Dubious persons from across the border flock their houses," they said. "Outwardly, they are cadres of different parties and thus they get political protection."
The story of Inarwa VDC, which also has the main entry point of the district along the border -- Thandi -- is almost same. One Ajay Yadav was shot at by an unidentified group in the first week of April but no complaint has yet been registered in the police.
"We are investigating," said Assistant Inspector Ashok Kumar Singh at the Thandi Police Station. "The family should have refrained from lodging a complaint under pressure," police sources said.
Police suspect the hand of Surya Yadav, of Inarwa-1, who is also the accused in a two-month-old robbery case, behind the attack on Ajay. But Surya was released on general date by the district court a few days after he was arrested. Local leaders of different parties virtually competed with each other to free Surya, said locals.
Thandi is also used as the passage to take the hostages to the hideouts in India. One Iltafh Miya, 35, was kidnapped from Lahan and taken to Loukee Bazzar last week. "We coordinated with the Indian police to resuce the hostage," said inspector Dil Bahadur Gole at the Armed Police Force Base in Thandi.
Related story
Gender and sexual minorities suffer abuse in foreign employment
-1200x560-1784036910.webp)
