Patna, March 26: Fazl-ur-Rahman alias Fazlu, underworld don and once a close associate of international terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, was acquitted in a kidnapping case involving a businessman of Muzaffarpur, Amrendra Singh, for want of evidence.

Additional district and sessions judge (IV) of Darbhanga Jitendra Kumar passed the order in Fazlu’s favour after all the prosecution witnesses in the case, lodged with the University police station in Darbhanga town on September 28, 1998, turned hostile during deposition in the court.

Fazlu was earlier brought to Darbhanga from Tihar Jail under tight security. Darbha-nga senior superintendent of police Vikas Vaibahv confir-med Fazlu’s acquittal in the Amrendra kidnapping case.

The case was lodged by victim’s father Prabhu Nath Singh, who alleged that his son was abducted for ransom. Deputy superintendent of police (headquarters) Shailesh Kumar Sinha said that Fazlu, who hails from Deoura Bandauli village under Jale police station of the district, was taken back to Tihar on Saturday by a Delhi police team.

Fazlu was produced in the court after repeated reminders to the superintendent of Tihar Jail where Rahman was lodged after his arrest from Lucknow in 2006.

Fazlu’s name also figured in a case of alleged conspiracy hatched by a senior RJD leader of Darbhanga to eliminate the then deputy mayor of Darbhanga, Badlu Zaman, in 2007. Police investigation revealed that the RJD leader had contacted Fazlu over the phone and allegedly given “supari” (contract) to kill the deputy mayor, said to be a political rival of the former.

Fazlu, a graduate from LNMU, Darbhanga, stepped into the world of crime by kidnapping a teenaged girl from the district for which he was sentenced for four years from 1988. During his stay in Tihar Jail, he came in contact with Babloo Srivastava, underworld don from UP, sources in the police department said.

In 1999, Fazlu got into the big league by orchestrating the kidnapping of a Delhi-based businessman Sanjay Gupta in Lucknow. He then laid his hands on a paan masala factory owner Praveen Gupta in Kanpur. Both were released after paying ransom, sources said.

Fazlu has operated from Dubai, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa. When the D-company, Nana company, as the gang of Chhota Rajan was called, and Babloo were busy fighting with one another, Fazlu used the opportunity to increase his strength and began to run his own gang.

The don has a fine network in Nepal, where he married a woman called Rani after a long courtship. Fazlu aligned with Sahil, the son-in-law of slain Mirza Dilshad Beg, Nepalese leader with alleged links to Dawood, and his successor and Salim Ansari, a D-company criminal.