World | India
Students plan insurance policy against kidnapping
With kidnapping now becoming a thriving business in Bihar, five students from the National Institute of Insurance Academy, Pune, are working on an insurance policy with a difference.
- By C.K. Manoj, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 December 7, 2006
Patna: With kidnapping now becoming a thriving business in Bihar, five students from the National Institute of Insurance Academy, Pune, are working on an insurance policy with a difference.
"A Kidnap and Ransom Insurance Plan" is set to prove a stress reliever for families at the receiving end of the abductors.
On an average, 10,000 to 12,000 cases of kidnapping are reported every year in this eastern Indian state and in the last few years there has been alarming rise in incidents of kidnapping causing a fear psychosis among the residents.
What's the matter of grave concern though is that nearly 20 per cent of the kidnapped victims are normally eliminated by the kidnappers for failure by their families to arrange for ransom ranging between Rs1 million to Rs20 million (Dh8,334 to Dh1.67 million) depending upon their financial condition.
"We are planning to apply this policy in Bihar so that we could relieve the victims' families from financial mess," says Yashwant, a National Institute of Insurance Academy (NIIA) student.
There are more than 8,000 kidnappers operating through more than 100 gangs in Bihar.
Under this insurance policy, the insurance agency will appoint a consultant to take care of the clients' security and in case the client is kidnapped, the consultant will negotiate with the kidnappers to settle the matter.
"This will not only help the families in crisis but will also motivate us to address a social cause", said the NIIA students.
However, the insurance policy may see the light of the day only if it is cleared by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
The last few years have seen a sudden boom in 'kidnapping business' with the school-going children being the main victims. "It was one of the reasons we were compelled to work on this policy," said Yashwant.
40 children killed
According to an official report, altogether 904 children have been abducted for ransom in the past five years in Bihar out of which 40 children were killed as their parents failed to cough up the required ransom to the abductors.
Among the rest, the police managed to find 766 children whereas 98 are still missing, according to a report submitted by the previous state chief secretary G.S. Kang to the Patna High Court in September. The last eight months alone have seen a total of 1,733 kidnapping incidents.
What is another source of worry for the victim's families is sudden rise in demand of ransom money. Very recently, the abductors of a Central School student Deepak Kumar, who was kidnapped on Tuesday on way to school, sought a ransom of Rs1 million from his father in exchange for victim's safe release.
"Please listen. Your child is in my safe custody and hence you have to arrange for Rs10 lakh [Rs1 million] in lieu of his safe release," was how the kidnappers bluntly told the victim's father Ram Pravesh Rai, a railway employee, over phone.
On October 12, the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of Rs5 million for releasing a Purnia trader Anand Kumar and his wife Mamata.
Share this article
News Editor's choice
-
Al Qaida returns to Manhattan
Trial in US federal court would be just the theatre Khalid Shaikh Mohammad wants
-
Obama's Tibet test
The US president's snub of the Dalai Lama could embolden China
-
What to expect at the Dubai Airshow
We preview what types of aircraft to expect at the Dubai Airshow
