India, Oct. 5 -- Three cousins from Gujarat's Mehsana district, who were kidnapped in Ethiopia while allegedly travelling to the US through an illegal route, have been safely released following negotiations by the state police, an official said Monday.

The three - identified by police as Rutvik Jansari, 23, of Vadsma village in Mehsana; Mamta Chavda, 30, originally from Mehsana and currently residing in Ahmedabad; and Mayuri Solanki, 27, a resident of Gandhinagar - reached India on October 1, he said.

The trio left for the US on September 20 through an illegal route after Chavda's US visa was rejected six times, the official said.

"Mamta had applied for a US visa, but her visa was rejected six times. As her husband has been in the US o...