TURA, Aug 21 � After 15 days of captivity and fervent prayers by the people of the region for his safe release, abducted SBI employee Subodh Kumar Mishra was finally released by his captors late last night. He was released near Sibbari village, on the Indo-Bangla border at about 11.30 pm yesterday.
He stayed over for the night in a school there before boarding a bus to Dalu this morning. The police, which had received the news of his release, escorted him from the bus and sent him to Dalu PHC for a medical check up before taking him to Tura Police Station where his statement was recorded.
Mishra was kidnapped on August 5 by militants while he was on his way back from work near Chiringpara and may have been taken to Bangladesh, though he is unaware of the terrain.
�We are happy that he has been safely released. Police have been close on some occasions but their mobility made it difficult to track them. We feel they were pressurised to release him due to the ongoing search ops�, said IGP Range H Nongpluh. He confirmed the kidnapping to be the work of the ASAK militant group.
Visibly shaken over his experience in the hands of his captors, Mishra related his experiences, though he was unable to provide much information of what exactly transpired in the past 15 days.
�On the day of my kidnap, I was made to walk for about six hours. As I am new to the place, I have no idea what those places were. There were about five-ten people with me all the time and I was shifted from one place to another every day. They took my phone but did not return it�, said Mishra.
According to his admission, he had not spoken to his family and was unaware of what had transpired for him to be released. Mishra�s family is currently lodged in Guwahati and will be in Tura soon.
Mishra also informed that he was not mistreated or tortured and was given the same food as his captors. However, baths were only possible when it rained and he wore a 15-day stubble. He was wearing the same clothes he wore at the time of his kidnap. Mishra has been with SBI since the last year and this was his first posting. He is about 27.
�We are really happy for his safe release and would like to thank all for their support and prayers. We can now start looking at normalising operations of the bank. A decision to that effect will be made by the Guwahati regional headquarters�, said Nixon Joseph, Assistant General Manager, SBI, Garo Hills Division.
