SUKKUR, Nov 29: The kidnapped Hindu trader Saroop Chand and his driver reached home safely on Friday after spending 21 days in illegal confinement.

Saroop Chand, resident of Jacobabad, and his driver Bagan Lashari were on way to Karim Bux near Thull when dacoits kidnapped them on gunpoint along with their car.

Saroop Chand told the journalists on Saturday that kidnappers kept them in a deserted area and only last night they released them near Dera Allah Yar, from where they boarded a truck and reached Jacobabad.

Area police claimed their release to be the result of pressure put on the kidnappers by police and influential people, whereas area people said that Saroop Chand was released after paying Rs2.5 million in ransom.—BoC