Mumbai: No witness to kidnap of businessman, accused walks free 34 years later

MUMBAI: In one of the oldest pending cases before the sessions court, 34 years after a city businessman was allegedly kidnapped by four accused who extorted a share of a property from him, a 62-year-old Mira Road man, the sole accused facing trial for more than three decades, was acquitted after the victim and other witnesses could not be traced.

The accused, Abhay Uskaikar, was out on bail. In a trial that lasted only two months, the court said that the testimony of the investigating officer was insufficient to convict the accused.

“There is no evidence on record to show that the accused Abhay hatched a criminal conspiracy along with absconding accused number 2 to 4. There is also no evidence to show that accused Abhay, in furtherance of his common intention with the absconding accused, kidnapped Mohammad Reza Ghulam Hussain and committed extortion,” the sessions court said.

Hussain could not be found at the given address.

Uskaikar was first arrested on May 5, 1989, and released on bail 11 days later. Thereafter, for a long time, the accused remained absent. Therefore, the court issued a standing non-bailable warrant. Uskaikar was arrested on June 16, 2021. Less than a month later, the court once again granted him bail. Uskaikar was directed to cough up a penalty of Rs 10,000 if he defaulted on the terms and conditions of bail bonds.

The trial against three other accused was separated as they continued to abscond.

It was alleged that one of three accused pulled out a revolver and fired it in the air. The fourth drove the car towards Colaba. Bhaskar noted the registration number. An FIR was registered at the Colaba police station.

During the investigation, it was allegedly revealed that the four accused kidnapped the victim and secretly kept him in a building. It was alleged that they forcibly obtained the victim’s signatures on a partnership deed, which gave a no objection to transfer and assign a 25% share of a property.

The investigating officer recorded statements of the witnesses and after completion of the investigation filed the chargesheet.

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