New Delhi: Three relatives from Gujarat who set out to reach the United States through an allegedly illegal migration route have gone missing, with their families reporting a ₹1 crore ransom demand from a caller claiming they were being held in Ethiopia. Police in Mehsana have registered a missing persons complaint, but the alleged kidnapping and the travellers’ current location have yet to be independently established.
The missing individuals have been identified as Mamta Chavda, 30; Rutvik Jansari, 23; and Mayuri Solanki, 27; according to several media reports. Their relatives have appealed for government assistance, saying they had already committed substantial sums to intermediaries arranging the journey and could not meet the demand for their release.
Mamta’s father, Kiritbhai Chauhan, lodged the complaint at Langhnaj police station on Tuesday after the family failed to restore contact with the three. Inspector AM Gehlot said Chauhan last spoke to his daughter on September 22, 2026, and their whereabouts had remained unknown since then, according to an ET report carrying PTI inputs.
The journey reportedly began on September 20 this year with the three travelling to Jaipur before flying to Abu Dhabi and then Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. According to Gujarat Samachar, they were accommodated at a facility identified as the GSF Camp on Swaziland Street, and their families were told that one-month Ethiopian e-visas had been arranged.
The information reaching the families subsequently became contradictory: they were told the travellers had reached Canada, although the later ransom demand allegedly came from Ethiopia. NDTV reported that Mamta herself mentioned Canada during the September 22 call, while Gujarat Samachar attributed assurances about their arrival there and onward travel towards the US to an agent.
After communication stopped, a caller identifying himself as “Khan” allegedly demanded ₹1 crore to release the three. The caller’s identity, his claimed custody of the travellers and the location from which he contacted the family remain matters requiring verification.
The arrangements reportedly involved a local intermediary, Alpesh Panchal, who connected the family with a Vadodara-based agent identified as Bhargav Patel. The complaint cited a proposed fee of ₹75 lakh per person, placing the combined cost of the promised journey at ₹2.25 crore.
However, accounts differ over the sums actually handed over. Some media outlets reported approximately ₹70 lakh in advance payments, while some others quoted Chauhan as saying around ₹70 lakh had been paid for each traveller. There have also been claims that ₹60 lakh was paid to the alleged abductors, but the published accounts do not establish the transaction details or recipients.
Mamta had sought to join her husband in the US after unsuccessful visa applications, according to the reports. Gehlot said her family subsequently approached intermediaries to arrange an allegedly illegal route, placing the promised reunion at the centre of the decision to undertake the journey.
The disappearance raises concerns about the exposure of migrants to extortion while travelling through networks of intermediaries across several countries. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has documented cases along multiple smuggling routes in which migrants are held for ransom by smugglers themselves or handed over to other criminal groups at borders and transit hubs.
A separate UNODC policy brief identifies kidnapping, robbery and extortion among the crimes faced by smuggled migrants, warning that fear of detention or deportation can discourage victims from reporting abuse. In the Gujarat case, establishing the three relatives’ location and safety remains the immediate concern, while the families await answers about what happened after their arrival in Ethiopia.