Lucknow: Nearly 21 years after a Lucknow-based timber businessman was kidnapped after being lured to Varanasi on the pretext of a business deal, a city court sentenced six men to life imprisonment for abducting him and demanding ₹1 crore ransom for his release.Additional Sessions Judge Vinay Kumar Singh-II convicted the six accused in the abduction of Khalil Mukhtar Khan, a timber and door supplier from Ismailganj on Faizabad Road. The court held that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused not only kidnapped Khan for ransom, but also kept him confined at various locations for nearly a month.Those convicted are Mohammad Ali, Asif Khan alias Mansoor Ali, Mohammad Jarrar, Premjeet Kumar alias Mantu, Sanjay Kumar and Ajay Prasad. All six were awarded life imprisonment along with a fine of ₹50,000 each.According to Additional District Govt Counsel (ADGC) Anil Mishra, the conspiracy began in Dec 2005 when two men visited Khan’s establishment posing as engineers associated with a major power project. “The accused introduced themselves as officials engaged in a large project and told Khan they required around 3,000 doors. They maintained contact with him and eventually convinced him to travel to Varanasi for a business meeting,” Mishra said.The court found that the two men had in fact used fake identities to win Khan’s confidence. Call-detail records produced during the trial established regular contact between the accused and the businessman before the kidnapping.Khan travelled to Varanasi on Dec 28, 2005, expecting to finalise the deal. According to his testimony, he was received at the railway station by one of the accused and taken away in a vehicle. During the journey, he was overpowered, his mouth taped and he was allegedly injected with a substance that rendered him unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in captivity.“The victim remained in illegal confinement for almost a month. The abductors repeatedly demanded ₹1 crore from his family and shifted him between locations while keeping him under armed watch,” Mishra told the court. The prosecution said Khan was held hostage from late Dec 2005 until January 25, 2006, when a joint operation by the Special Task Force (STF) and police led to his rescue from a hideout in Bihar.Investigators tracked the accused through hotel records, mobile phone data and intelligence inputs. Acting on specific information, an STF team first apprehended one of the accused and subsequently raided a premises where Khan was held captive.During the trial, Khan identified the accused and narrated how some of them had approached him under assumed names to trap him. The court also relied on recovery memos, testimonies of police officers involved in the rescue operation and electronic evidence, including call records.Rejecting defence arguments regarding delays in registration of the FIR, the court observed that Khan’s disappearance had been promptly reported and the circumstances did not cast doubt on the prosecution case. The FIR was registered at Ghazipur police station on Jan 4, 2006. While the chargesheet was filed later that year, charges were framed in 2011 and evidence began in 2012. The trial finally culminated in the conviction of all six accused, bringing closure to one of Lucknow’s longest-running kidnap-for-ransom cases.
