KATHMANDU, Oct. 18 -- Police have arrested two Indian nationals on charges of abduction and holding a person hostage.

The arrested have been identified as Paramprit Singh, 24, and Labaprit Singha, 28, both from Punjab, India. A team from the District Police Range, Kathmandu, apprehended them for allegedly holding a 26-year-old man from Haryana, India, hostage under the false promise of sending him to Australia.

According to Kathmandu Police Range Spokesperson SP Pawan Kumar Bhattarai, police acted on a tip-off that the suspects had locked the victim in a hotel room in Sundhara and demanded a ransom of Rs 2 million for his release.

The District Court in Kathmandu has granted police a seven-day remand to carry out further investigation. ...