Buffaloes abducted in Madhya Pradesh, thieves demand lakhs in ransom

Representational Image (Wikimedia)

Angoorbala Hada resides in a small village of Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur district. She is a single mother who owns five buffaloes of the murrah breed, which cost up to Rs 2 lakh each.

On the night of June 28, Angoorbala realised that her buffs have been stolen, again, when she woke up to a call from the abductors demanding a ransom.

This is the second time her buffaloes were abducted, and the ransom amount demanded this time was reportedly much higher than that of the last. Exactly a year ago, thieves had stolen five of her buffaloes, but the ransom amount they had asked for was lesser,  The Times of India reported.

Angoorbala, who owns a farm near Muradpura Hanuman Temple in the village, had settled the matter with the thieves last year. Although she did approach the police, the thieves had reached a negotiation with her before the cops could help. Her neighbours had taken her to a man, who returned her the bovines in exchange of Rs 1.35 lakh. She had found them a day later near Karedi Naka.

However, this time when the kidnappers quoted a bigger ransom amount. Instead of helping her, the sources told her she doesn’t have an option but to shell out the amount and that such thefts are inevitable. Without wasting time or buckling under pressure, she rushed to the Shajapur Kotwali Police Station with the voice recordings and other evidence and that’s when the incident came to light.

Notably, she had installed a CCTV camera at her residence after last year’s theft, which was stolen in the recent heist too.

Police said that Angoorbala’s is not the only case when buffaloes were held for ransom. Most of the time, victims don't report the theft to the police but prefer to deal a settlement with the thieves.

Pankaj Shrivastava, who is the SP of Sahajpur, said such incidents of cattle theft are very common and do not even get reported most of the times. Usually, the owners of the bovines and the thieves strike a deal and end the matter.

However, Hada’s comment has been registered and the Kotwali police are investigating the case.