The CBI has registered a case against former MP Atiq Ahmed, his son and 16 others for allegedly kidnapping a businessman and assaulting him inside a jail where he was lodged in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria last year.
The accused faces 106 criminal cases, of which 26 are pending in various courts.
The agency has taken over the probe following a Supreme Court directive in April. The victim, Mohit Jaiswal, is into the real estate business. According to him, Mr. Ahmed had been threatening him through his accomplices for the past two years to hand over the business to them. The accused persons would also extort money from him.
About two months before the businessman was kidnapped, the former MP’s accomplices occupied his company’s office in Lucknow and put pressure on him and his sister to transfer the shares in their names. However, he did not relent.
As alleged, on December 26, 2018, Mr. Jaiswal was kidnapped and taken to the jail in his own vehicle. He was beaten up badly inside the jail and forced to transfer the shares in the name of two accomplices of Mr. Ahmed. He was also robbed of his vehicle.
The accused persons had already taken his digital signature and that of his sister, who is also a director in the company.
The issue came up before the Supreme Court during the hearing of a writ petition. Ordering the CBI probe, the Court said the jail officials should be suspended and legal proceedings be initiated against them as they were prima facie involved in the incident, based on two reports submitted by the State government.
The Court also directed that Mr. Ahmed be shifted to another jail in Gujarat and sought a report from the State government on the status of the remaining 80 cases against Mr. Ahmed within four weeks.