Three 'lured to city in kidnap plot'
Indian businessmen were allegedly held captive and a ransom demanded after they were lured to Hong Kong for property deal
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 03 June, 2015, 3:29am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 03 June, 2015, 3:29am
Thomas Chan [email protected]
Three 'lured to city in kidnap plot'
Five men kidnapped two Indian businessmen and an Indian banker and demanded a ransom of about HK$12 million after a man working in Hong Kong lured them to fly to the city for a property deal, a court heard yesterday.
The businessmen, Manmohan Singh Mangat, 57, and Gurinder Singh Gill, 49, along with banker Satwinder Singh, 37, were punched and beaten with iron rods during the kidnapping, and were only released after Mangat's family in India paid about HK$60,000 and reported the case to Indian police, prosecutor John Dunn told the High Court.
They were unlawfully detained by Mohammad Asif, 34, Ehtisham Dawood, 26, Muhammad Rizwan, 31, Muhammad Saqib, 41, and Mahmood Arshad, 26, between October 25 and 28 in 2013, Dunn said.
He told the court the first two defendants absconded, and that Asif took a leading role in the kidnapping, instructing the others to threaten and beat the captives.
They all pleaded not guilty to one count of forcible detention of a person with intent to procure a ransom for his liberation. Asif, Dawood and Saqib pleaded not guilty to one count of robbery.
Dunn said the three victims were all Sikhs who lived in the Punjab region of India.
The court heard Mangat's younger brother, Naginder Singh Mangat, met two men in India, Simaranjit Singh and Pali Upjinder Singh, also known as "Gaggi" and "Pali" respectively.
"[Mangat] told Gaggi he owned a property which he wanted to sell for about 100 million rupees," Dunn said.
"Gaggi claimed that he worked in Hong Kong and … could introduce him to a man he called Sikh Sahib there who owned a lot of real estate and would be interested in buying Manmohan Singh's property."
The trio arrived in Hong Kong on October 25, and were taken by Gaggi, Dawood and Saqib to a Pat Heung village house where Saqib pointed a pistol at Mangat's head and said: "You are kidnapped. Shut up. Sit down."
The court heard that although Mangat was not badly assaulted, probably because he was the oldest in the group, his companions suffered quite severe bruising.
Prosecution witness Naginder said through a court interpreter that on October 27 he received a call in which his brother told him: "If you want me to get released, you have to arrange money." He handed over 500,000 rupees (HK$60,000) to Gaggi and Pali that day and reported the case to Indian police.
He said the following day he received a call from his brother saying he had been released.
The trial continues today before Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping.
