After being tied up with an iron chain normally used to restrain buffaloes, Bela Nuss was mighty glad to see Indian policemen.
They rescued the 43-year-old San Francisco man kidnapped for 10 days by Muslim militants, finding him Monday in a house under surveillance in a criminal investigation."Today, when I heard noises, I felt good, I knew something was happening, and then came the policemen," Nuss said after being freed.
Three Britons were also abducted in New Delhi, and the kidnappers threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released.
The Britons were rescued Tuesday by police after a gun battle that left two policemen and a kidnapper dead, a police spokesman said. Following information from Nuss, police raided a house in Saharanpur, 30 miles east of New Delhi, where the hostages were kept.
All the hostages were unharmed, and some people linked to the kidnappings were detained for questioning in New Delhi, the police spokesman said.
During the shootout, three militants slipped out of the back of the house and vanished in the darkness, police said.
The Britons were identified as Paul Ridout, 26, Miles Croston, 28, and Rhys Partridge, 27.
It was the first time Westerners had been taken hostage from the Indian capital, New Delhi, since the armed Muslim uprising began in the northern state of Kashmir five years ago.
The British Broadcasting Corp. and Voice of America received letters announcing the kidnapping, accompanied by photographs of the hostages being held at gunpoint, and photocopies of the men's passports.
The group identified itself as Al Hadid, said it was based in Afghanistan, and listed 10 people it wanted released in exchange for the hostages.
An insurrection in Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority state in predominantly Hindu India, has cost 9,500 lives in the past four years and prompted India to send thousands of troops.
Describing himself as a "frequent traveler" interested in Indian culture, Nuss said a Kashmiri man he met in a hotel offered to take him to a wedding. They travelled to Musoori, a desolate place near Ghaziabad, west of New Delhi, 10 days ago.
But there was no wedding. "I realized something was wrong," Nuss said. "When I told them on the third day that I want to go back to Delhi, they told me a big NO."
Nuss was subsequently tied with the iron chain and a padlock.