Sanjay Mehrotra recounts his harrowing arrival in Calcutta. Picture by Pabitra Das

A few hours before the city saved Mohina Wahab, it nearly claimed Sanjay Mehrotra’s life on Thursday.

“Welcome to Calcutta.” When Tokyo-based Mehrotra was greeted with these words by Pim Ahee, an acquaintance, at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, early on Thursday, he had no clue that the hospitality would soon turn to horror.

A few minutes into the taxi ride on VIP Road, Mehrotra was attacked by his hosts with a knife. His throat bleeding from a deep gash, he managed to jump out of the taxi and summon help. He was rescued by a police patrol, which rushed him to hospital.

The 44-year-old Benaras Hindu University graduate, who works with a pet food company in Tokyo, is now out of danger, but in a state of shock as he recuperates in a relative’s house in Salt Lake.

“Based on Mehrotra’s complaint, a case of attempt to murder has been initiated against the accused, who is yet to be identified. A hunt is on for Pim Ahee,” said Praveen Kumar, superintendent of police (North 24-Parganas).

Mehrotra, who is president of the Indian Association in Japan, had arrived on Thursday morning from Bangkok to link up with a joint delegation of Japanese and Korean officials in Calcutta.

He was received by Pim Ahee and a cousin of Jai Ram Singh, a Bangkok-based trader who Mehrotra knew. “I have known Singh for a few years and I had met Pim Ahee at his place once. He greeted me at the airport and told me arrangements for my stay had been made at a hotel on Park Street. On seeing the taxi, I asked why there was no car from the hotel. He said the car had developed a snag and so they had hired a cab,” recounted Mehrotra.

Pim and he sat in the back, while a man Mehrotra did not know sat up front with the driver. Near Narayantala, on VIP Road, Pim suddenly asked Mehrotra to step out of the taxi as it had developed a flat tyre. “I stepped out of the taxi but when we realised there was no problem with the tyres, I started getting back into the car when suddenly, the unknown man attacked me with a small knife. He tried to slit my throat, while Pim pinned me down,” said Mehrotra.

He managed to wriggle free and started running down VIP Road, screaming for help. Drivers at a taxi stand saw him and alerted a police patrol.

“The cops rushed me to RG Kar Medical College, where doctors nursed and stitched my wounds,” said the victim.

“Jai Ram Singh had borrowed close to Rs 1.15 crore from my company to set up a branch in Japan. He must have plotted to eliminate me,” alleged Mehrotra.