KULOB, March 27, 2009, Asia-Plus — The 41-year-old shepherd from the village of Odinaboi in the Sarichashma Jamoat of Khatlon’s Shuroobod district, Shermamon Mannonov, who was held by Afghan drug dealers hostage, has been released, Ibrohim Azizov, the head of the Shuroobod district, told Asia-Plus today.
As it had been reported earlier, two armed Afghans on March 4 took the shepherd from the Bardara area and held him hostage in unknown area.
In the meantime, it turned out that Mannonov had not been the only person taken by Afghan drug dealers from the Bardara area.
According to the Kulob law enforcement agencies, a senior shepherd from Odinaboi, Jumakhon Mengliyev, was taken from the Bardara area on March 3. Mannonov was released the next day, the source said.
The source at the Kulob prosecutor’s office said that the shepherds had been captured by Afghan drug dealers because of the head of the Saydamir Farm in the Sarichashma Jamoat, who was suspected of being involved in drug trafficking. The farm head has been arrested.
Tajik authorities freed four Tajik nationals from Afghan captivity in January this year.
Experts say the number of kidnappings and theft of livestock along the Tajik-Afghan border in the Shuroobod district has increased in recent years. Residents of border villages in Shuroobod are falling prey to drug dealers who are taking desperate measure to recover debts. They are being kidnapped by Afghan drug dealers, taken from their villages and held hostage until their families pay ransom money to clear debts.
