BJP Nadiad Councillor sentenced to life imprisonment along with 13 others

The complainant, Usman Ghani Adam Vohra had a fall out with his business partner, Shahed Natubhai, allegedly over the accounts of the year 2001. After a civil suit resulted in an arbitration, the partners had agreed that Vohra would pay Rs 65 lakhs to Natubhai.

However, as he failed to pay the sum until 2002, four of Natubhai’s employees, who had the power of attorney to administer his business, allegedly contracted Bharwad and 13 others to abduct and threaten Vohra to pay up the sum.

The 13 others convicted for life, include, Navdhan Bharwad, Bhanu Ufa, Mafat Bharwad, Mafat Bhura, Sajan Bharwad, Chandrakant Sharma, Ratna Bharwad, Hasu Bharwad, Manu Rabari, Kiritsinh Gohil, Anilkumar Darbar, Gaurangkumar Pandya and Pappu Premnath Sharma.

The accused were booked for kidnapping or abduction in order to murder, wrongful confinement, rioting armed with deadly weapon, criminal intimidation and criminal trespass under IPC sections 147, 148, 364 (A), 120 (B), 507 (2), 342 and 447. Bharwad was also booked under PASA in the same year.

According to Public Prosecutor Paresh Dhora, the four employees Dashrath Patel, Manu Patel, Ambalal Patel and Dilip Joshi alias Labhshankar had contacted Bharwad to threaten Vohra. Accordingly, Vohra was abducted in a sports vehicle (GJ 7 R 9639) on July 8 2002 an then exchanged with another set of accused. He was then taken in a tempo into the fields outside Nadiad, where he was assaulted and kept in confinement.

The convicts also made a ransom call to his family demanding Rs 65 lakhs. Dhora said, “The police investigation could not establish if Natubhai himself had a role in the entire conspiracy but his four employees were booked, tried and convicted by the court to six months imprisonment.”

In its judgement on Monday, the third additional judge of Nadiad Sessions Court, HB Raval sentenced the 14 accused to life imprisonment and also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh each. In addition, the court also sentenced the accused to a concurrent rigorous imprisonment of two years and an additional fine of Rs 10,000.