Kidnapped Indian trader escapes

LANAO DEL NORTE, Philippines - Kidnapped Indian merchant Krishan Sing Arora escaped late Friday from his kidnappers at the border of Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte and Pikong, Lanao del Sur.

Arora was snatched by gunmen more than a month ago in Landasan District in Parang town in Maguindanao, about 70 kilometers southwest of Sultan Naga Dimaporo.

Senior Supt. Madid Paicao, director of the Lanao del Norte provincial police, said Arora, who was held captive in Pikong town, made a daring dash toward the nearest barangay in Sultan Naga Dimaporo while his five captors were asleep.

“He decided to escape when he sensed that all his captors were asleep,” Paicao said.

Paicao said residents of Barangay Parika in Sultan Naga Dimaporo found the haggard and pale Arora, wandering in a farm, disoriented.

“Barangay officials immediately took custody of him and reported to the police his presence in the area after learning from him that he was a kidnap victim,” Paicao said.

Arora was trying to re-open the mothballed Eversun Plywood Factory in Barangay Sarmiento in the east of Parang town when kidnappers, disguised as soldiers, snatched him last Nov. 13.

The seaside plywood factory Arora was trying to revive was originally owned by South Korean businessmen, but closed down about a decade ago due to management problems.

Paicao said they have turned over Arora to the regional police office of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in Camp S.K. Pendatun in Parang town, located in the first district of Maguindanao.

The kidnap-for-ransom gang that abductors Arora had earlier asked for a P10-million ransom from his relatives.