Tahir Khurshid: Too scared to flee

The threat posed by a bundle of cloth tied to his waist — which his abductors told him was a remote-operated bomb — made Tahir Khurshid comply in silence with his abductors throughout the journey from Calcutta to Bihar’s Bettiah.

Tahir, 24, was scared of his abductors’ claim that “the bomb” would explode if he tried to jump off the car and try to run away, said a police officer investigating the abduction.

A team of officers from Karaya police station and sleuths of the detective department accompanied Tahir to his Syed Amir Ali Avenue residence around 3.30 pm on Sunday.

“Tahir was so scared that he did not dare to touch the food that his abductors tried to give him. He was suspicious that his food was poisoned and only drank sips of water in the 24 hours he spent with them,” said an officer of the detective department.

“He was made to sit in the rear seat of his own Maruti Swift, while his abductors Tanveer and Raju sat on either side. They kept all the tinted window glasses raised and the air-conditioner switched on,” said the officer.

Tahir, the son of a leather merchant, was abducted on Thursday morning on his visit to a leather goods manufacturing unit in Tiljala.

Nadeem, the mastermind of the abduction and also Tahir’s cousin, asked for a lift on the eastern slope of No. 4 Bridge on the Park Circus Connector. As soon as Tahir stopped his vehicle, Nadeem and another youth, identified as Tanveer, appeared and entered the vehicle through the rear door. They held Tahir at gunpoint. Later, another man, Raju Tiwari, joined them.

Sleuths on the abduction trail arrested Tabrez, a common friend of Nadeem and Tanveer, from Topsia on Friday. After interrogation, the sleuths came to know from Tabrez that Tahir would reach Bettiah around 2.30 pm on Friday.

The Bihar police were immediately alerted about the abduction, and provided with the registration number of the vehicle and other particulars, and the abductors were netted.

The three accused were sent to Bettiah jail on charges of possessing illegal arms. They will be deported to the city within a couple of days to face trial, said an officer.