Despite alert, Richard gave state cops the slip

Vadodara: Investigations into the escape of drug dealer Xie Jeng Pang alias Richard has revealed that he was in Gujarat for four days after he fled from police custody in April 2011. Richard told the cops that 2008 Surat bomb planting case accused, Mushtaq Patel’s nephew Altaf didn’t allow him to leave the state without paying the Rs 6 lakh he had promised.
“Richard had come in contact with Mushtaq in Vadodara central jail. He sought help from Mushtaq to escape after his bail got rejected. Mushtaq first got hold of a mobile phone in the jail and called up his nephew Altaf to hatch an escape plan to help Richard flee,” SOG sleuths said.
Richard decided to execute the plan on April 28, 2011, when he was taken to SSG Hospital for medical check-up. Altaf had sent in a biker who was present outside the hospital. Richard insisted to have some snacks so the police guards allowed him. He diverted their attention, sat on the bike and fled towards Mumbai highway.
“He then sat in a car that took him to Surat. Altaf then asked Richard to pay him money he had promised. Richard was kept under watch in Surat for four days and Altaf agreed to let him out only after his wife transferred Rs 60,000 to Altaf. Richard promised to pay rest of the amount once he reached Nepal,” SOG officials added.
Altaf and his men then drove Richard all the way to Nepal in a car where he paid them rest of the money. “He stayed in a five-star hotel in Nepal for two months. Richard then arranged for a fake Malaysian citizen passport to visit Hong Kong as he wanted to meet his family. But he was caught at the airport with the fake passport following which Richard was jailed for five months in Nepal,” the police said.
Richard again got another fake passport and managed to reach Hong Kong. He then tried to enter Guangdong Province in China but the authorities there got suspicious of his passport and sent him back to Hong Kong. The authorities in Hong Kong arrested him for making a fake passport and then jailed him in a money laundering case that was registered against him earlier.
When Vadodara police learnt about his arrest in Hong Kong, they began process to extradite him. After his jail term ended in 2018, the cops managed to bring him to the city recently. All the accused, who had helped him flee, are already in police custody.