Nepal Police have arrested two Indian gangsters allegedly involved in the abduction of prominent Nepalese businessman Suresh Kedia in 2016.

The two Indian nationals, Bablu Paswan, 35 and Bijaya Mahato, 25, both from Motihari in Bihar, were arrested from Bhiswa area of Parsa district on Thursday night.

Organising a press meet, District Police Office Parsa made public the two arrestees on Saturday.

Paswan was the key suspect involved in Kedia’s abduction while Mahato had taken away Kedia in the vehicle after his kidnapping, Superintendent of Police Rewati Dhakal was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times.

Kedia was abducted on May 25, 2016 from Bara district in Nepal and was found by Bihar Police, three days later in Motihari. At the press meet, Paswan, however, claimed that Kedia was released after he paid Rs 10 crore in ransom, the daily reported.

Paswan claimed that gangster Bablu Dubey, who was the mastermind behind Kedia’s kidnapping, was murdered by his aides in the Bettiah court premises in 2017 as he did not give them the part of the ransom he had promised.

“We killed Dubey after he did not give us Rs one crore as per the agreement,” Paswan was quoted as saying by the daily.

He said that Kedia was kidnapped as per Dubey’s plan and he had paid Rs 10 crore in ransom.

“Since Dubey did not abide by the agreement, we killed him,” Paswan said. “We worked hard. We have to spend time in jail and he took all the money. Thus, we killed him,” Paswan added.

Dubey, who was involved in several cases of kidnapping and murder in India and Nepal, was shot dead in May 2017 while he was brought to Bettiah Court for a hearing in connection with a murder case.

Nepal Police have already arrested five persons including Chanchala Pandey, Birendra Yadav, Jiyalal Yadav for their alleged involvement in Kedia’s abduction.