Surat businessman kidnap case: Nitish Kumar orders probe

Patna, 19 December 2013

Lately, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered an inquiry into a case involving the kidnapping of a Gujarat-based businessman Mohammad Sohail who was released in Patna after his father Hanif Hingora “paid” Rs. 25-crore as ransom (probably the biggest ever to date) allegedly at the residence of a Bihar politician. Nitish Kumar said nobody will be spared if guilty, whatever his position. Nitish said he was interested in knowing the name of the leader.

Sohail was abducted on October 29 by an inter-state gang of criminals from Daman and held hostage in Bihar, about 2000 km apart, till his father paid the money. While the Bihar police admit that Rs. 9 crore was paid to the abductors, Hanif said he could prove that he paid Rs. 25 crore.

Hanif Hingora, a textile and infrastructure building magnate in Surat, told reporters in Surat that the abductors had called him to Patna to pay the ransom for the release of his son Mohammad Sohail Hingora.

Hanif Hingora said he was taken to different places before the payment was made in Patna at the house of a ruling JD(U) minister. Hanif did not name the minister. He said a big gang is operating under the patronage of politicians and the police in Bihar. He alleged that Sohail was kept in the house of a police officer in Saran district.

The superintendent of Daman police Atul Kumar claimed they have arrested three persons of the seven criminals involved in the crime—two from Jharkhand and one from Chapra in Bihar. He said efforts were on to arrest the remaining four accused, including the kingpin, Deepak Kumar.

Deepak is the brother of Ranjit Singh who was arrested from Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), where he was admitted for an injury sustained in a fight in Chapra.

“Once we arrest Deepak, we will be able to get the real picture as to who all are involved in the abduction and how it was carried out,” Atul said.

BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi demanded the government should name the politician, who allegedly mediated the payment of ransom.

“What needs to be answered is under whose political patronage such things have started surfacing again. It is a reminder of the jungle raj we fought against,” he added.