Dr Shrestha was dropped off at around 2 AM by the kidnappers who had ferried him on a four-wheeler reportedly for six hours. He was received by his family three hours later while he took a brief respite at a local´s house. [break]
Dr Shrestha appeared before the press and well-wishers at about 8 AM at his residential quarters within the hospital premises. Before that, he met police officials, briefing them on his experience in captivity. Throughout the whole day, he was engaged in entertaining the press and well-wishers.
Seemingly exhausted, he initially did not prefer any interaction with the press but he elaborated his experience later in many media reports. Talking to myrepublica.com, he said the kidnappers had raised issues of corruption against him. He added that the kidnappers were always humble and even took care of his health.
Talking to reporters, he said that the kidnappers told him he was picked to vent their protest against secularism but not for any money.
He also said that the kidnappers belonged to a political force but not any major political front. "They said they were a political force with a religious bent," he added.
The party had never come into public notice or been mentioned in official records before Dr Shrestha linked it with his abduction.
According to Dr Bijaya Neupane, coordinator of the Save Bhaktaman Movement and a close aide, Dr Shrestha said that he was shifted to different places during his captivity.
AIG Prakash Kunwar, who heads a high-level police investigation team, told myrepublica.com that the kidnappers were found to have acted in a well-planned manner, they were well-equipped and capable of carrying out fatal incidents in future.
Underlining that his team had some hard evidence for taking action against the kidnappers, he said that investigations would now be directed towards dismantling the group.
Senior police officials said the Nepal Police was aware of the kidnappers´ late-hour movements but refrained from taking action to save the hostage from possible harm.
"We would now head to nab the criminals," police spokesman DIG Bigyan Raj Sharma.
Amik Sherchan, coordinator of a probe panel formed by the UCPN (Maoist), told reporters in front of the doctor´s quarters that his party was fully aware of the doctor´s whereabouts and was preparing to rescue him on Saturday.
Unanswered questions
1. Nepal Hindu Janata Party (NHJP) does not exist and has been unheard of to date. Official records do not show it has carried out any political or criminal activity. Why should a party that is literally non-existent have abducted Dr Bhaktaman Shrestha?
2. Even if the NHJP abducted Dr Shrestha it should been either for ransom or for a propaganda value. Neither the family nor Dr Shrestha himself have said that the party asked for ransom. Even the security agencies said they were unaware of any ransom negotiations.
3. If it was for ransom, the kidnappers would have chosen a softer target than Dr Shrestha for fast gain. If trends followed by kidnappers are anything to go by, kidnappers targeting ransom never keep the hostage for long.
4. If it was for propaganda and if NHJP wanted to score propaganda points about Hinduism and anti-corruption, it would have circulated its message close on the heels of the doctor’s abduction. But the so-called party hasn´t even claimed that it carried out the abduction.
5. That the blindfolded doctor was not kept at one place during his captivity also raises questions. How could a party with no organization or existence travel around with a hostage for 19 days while keeping itself from the notice of the administration, police, political parties, their cadres and the general public?
6. Why was it that NJHP had to abduct Dr Shrestha and not anyone else? Why him?
Related story
Dark web is the underworld of cyberspace
