Captors tortured me with hot tea on my face, kidnapped Indian businessman tells Hong Kong court
Indian businessman lured to city for a property deal tells court how he and his two companions were tortured and beaten by their kidnappers
An Indian businessman told a court yesterday how he and two friends were tortured by five kidnappers who demanded a ransom of about HK$12 million.
Manmohan Singh Mangat said through an interpreter at the High Court that they "put hot tea on my face and my tongue was burnt", while his two companions, businessman Gurinder Singh Gill, 49, and banker Satwinder Singh, 37, were punched and kicked.
Gill and Singh were also assaulted with an iron pipe.
Mangat, 57, was testifying against Mohammad Asif, 34, Ehtisham Dawood, 26, Muhammad Rizwan, 31, Muhammad Saqib, 41, and Mahmood Arshad, 26 - who all earlier denied one count of forcible detention of a person with intent to procure a ransom for his liberation. Asif, Dawood and Saqib also pleaded not guilty to robbery. The alleged offences took place between October 25 and 28, 2013.
Previously, prosecutor John Dunn said Asif and Dawood jumped bail after entering pleas and were at large.
Mangat, a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal political party in India, said he came to Hong Kong on October 25 because a Hong Kong man said he could introduce him to someone interested in buying his five-storey complex in the Punjab region of India. Mangat said he had to fly to the city to finalise the deal.
The court heard that the three men were taken to three different locations upon their arrival in Hong Kong and were kept captive until they were released on October 28.
Earlier, Mangat's younger brother, Naginder, told the court 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 said that he handed 500,000 rupees (HK$60,000) to two men in India and the next day received a call from his brother saying he had been released.
Mangat said yesterday that when they were taken to a recycling yard near Sha Tau Kok, Saqib pointed a pistol at his head and said: "If you try to run away, I will shoot you."
Mangat said Asif was the person who gave instructions to the others and told them to assault him and his two friends. Speaking of Arshad, Mangat said: "He threatened, tied and assaulted us. His behaviour was bad."
The trial continues today before Madame Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping.
