CHENNAI: A day after the arrest of a few persons in connection with the kidnap and assault of a businessman, it has now emerged that the accused posed as officers of the premier investigation agency NIA during the crime. The victim, S Diwan Akbar (45) was beaten up and forced to admit that he was involved in several crimes, on camera.
After recording the incident, they threatened the victim saying they had orders to kill him and stage the incident like an encounter. The incident happened in the early hours of August 17, when Akbar, who runs a screen printing firm, was returning home from a friend’s place in Broadway.
Four men intercepted him on the way and took him away in a car, saying they were NIA officers. “After he boarded the vehicle, they proceeded towards Triplicane and one more person got onto the vehicle on Bells Road. Soon after the vehicle reached the ECR, Akbar was blindfolded and a few minutes later, he was confined in a room and attacked,” said a policeman.
“After obtaining a statement from him admitting that he was involved in drug peddling, the ‘officers’ told him that they had instructions to kill him in an ‘encounter’. They agreed to spare his life if he paid up `3 crore.” Akbar then called his family and arranged for Rs 2 crore the very next day. The money was handed over by Akbar’s brother to a man near Albert Theatre.
“Later in the day, they took Akbar’s passport, debit cards, and house keys as collateral for the balance `1 crore and dropped him off at the Parry’s Corner. He was given two days time to settle the balance amount,” the policeman added. Based on his complaint, a special team was formed that nabbed two persons, including the prime accused Thoufique.
Meanwhile, Thoufique’s wife Salma, a native of Bangladesh, was arrested in Tiruchy for illegal stay in the country. It is learnt that the duo met at a religious event in Bangladesh, and Salma came to India with Thoufique about five months back.