Three Indian businessmen lured to Hong Kong in HK$12m kidnap plot, court hears
Indian businessmen were allegedly held captive and a ransom demanded after they were lured to Hong Kong for property deal
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.