Surat:
A 75-year-old India-origin diamond merchant, who was allegedly kidnapped in Mali, has been reportedly released after his family paid a ransom of a whopping Euro 4 million (nearly Rs 44 crore). Dhiru Ramani was kidnapped in April, while he was in Mali, where he had recently acquired a gold mine and had been living for some time, according to a report by the Press Trust of India (PTI).
The kidnappers initially demanded around Rs 100 crore for Ramani’s release, but his family members, who live in the US, negotiated the amount down before securing his release, sources told PTI.
The family paid a ransom of Euro 4 million to secure his release last week in the West African country, the report said.
Ramani, originally from Gujarat’s Amreli district and associated with the diamond trade in Surat, reportedly remains in Mali, where local authorities are questioning him after his release.
“He has been released, but he is still in Mali. The local police are questioning him about his release and the circumstances surrounding it,” the source told PTI.
Ramani’s US-based family handled the negotiations on its own, and no Indian government agency was involved in the process, the source added.
Ramani originally belonged to the Dhar village in Amreli district and has been associated with the diamond business since around 1980. He later moved to the United States, where his family is engaged in the international diamond trade.
Around the time of the alleged kidnapping in April, the Indian Embassy in Bamako, the capital of Mali, issued a general security advisory urging Indian nationals living there to exercise caution.
“Due to recent security developments and reported attacks in Kati and other parts of Mali, the Embassy of India in Bamako urges all Indian nationals residing in Mali to remain highly vigilant, exercise utmost caution, stay indoors, and strictly follow the instructions issued by the Malian authorities from time to time,” the advisory dated April 25 had said. The advisory, however, did not refer to any specific incident or individual.
