Kidnap gang threatened to cut hostage’s fingers off and send them to his family
TORTURED VICTIM THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIE AT HANDS OF HIS CAPTORS WHO DEMANDED £300,000 FOR HIS RELEASE
A BOLLYWOOD film actor impersonator was lured to a house in Nottingham, savagely beaten, repeatedly bound, gagged, tortured and had a gun held to his head during a terrifying kidnap which saw his father threatened with a £300,000 ransom demand.
In sinister calls, the victim’s dad was told his son’s fingers would be cut off and sent to his family if he failed to raise and hand over the vast sum of cash the kidnap gang demanded.
Over 32 hours, the hostage was held at addresses in Wollaton and Top Valley, and had petrol poured over his face and a knife placed in his mouth leading him to genuinely feel he would be killed.
And in a victim impact statement he told how “the individuals who carried this out have destroyed my life in every aspect”.
During a day-long sentencing hearing at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday, the gang - Darshan Rathoor, his son Sirvan Rathoor, Inderpal Singh, Nerver Singh, Jamie Raggett and Kalsah Singh, were jailed for a combined total of almost 80 years.
Sentencing the conspirators, Judge Michael Auty KC said: “It is beyond any sensible and rational doubt that you, Darshan Rathoor, were the mastermind behind this truly wicked and audacious scheme, the sole purpose of which was to extort as much money as you could.
“He believed he was going to be shot, strangled or stabbed to death.
“This was torture for the pleasure of torture, those blackmail threats were terrifying. There was coldness, a sadistic nature and cruelty almost beyond measure.
“Gaffer tape was used to virtually embalm him leaving him just enough to breathe and he was told if he did not cooperate this would be his last day on earth.
“That he was not left with lifealtering or fatal injuries is only down to chance.
“He felt what he thought, and what he was assured was, the barrel of a gun pressed against him. He thought he was going to die.
“He was degraded and humiliated entirely needlessly. He was undoubtedly violently tortured.”
Sarah Knight, prosecuting, said the victim was lured to the address in Sneinton on February 15, 2022, to discuss the possibility of him performing in his side role as an impersonator.
She said as soon as he walked through the door and was taken into the kitchen, masked men attacked him, gagged and bound him and drove him firstly to The Little Carpet Company, and then to an address in Revelstoke Way, Top Valley, both of which are linked to Nerva Singh.
The prosecutor said once there, calls were made to his father firstly demanding £250,000 and then upping that to £300,000.
Miss Knight said: “This case involves a clear plot to kidnap the victim.
“It was brutal, it was terrifying for him and his family and an attempt was made to blackmail his father into handing out a substantial amount of money for the safe return of his son.
“All of these defendants took part in planning and executing this serious and sustained criminal enterprise.
“Darshan Rathoor was without doubt the prime orchestrator through pure greed and wickedness and recruited others to assist him in his plan to exact a huge amount of fear and strike terror in the victim.”
Miss Knight said for the hours the terrified victim was being held at the Top Valley address he had his head, feet and face bound with tape and was not allowed to use the toilet, meaning he soiled himself.
She said: “All of this period was gruelling and degrading.
“At one point he felt a liquid being poured over his face which, by the smell, he thought was petrol and this compounded his terror. He genuinely felt he was about to die.
“He had a phone held to his mouth and his father was called and he was instructed that all he was to say to him was ‘dad, please give them what they want’ and if he said anything else he would be killed.
“He was told his fingers would be chopped off and sent to his family.”
The prosecutor said his family rallied around and were able to raise £90,000 but by now the police had become involved and Darshan Rathoor had been implicated.
She said 32 hours into the kidnap and blackmail, the plot was aborted and the victim was driven from Top Valley and dumped in some bushes in Basford, just wearing his socks and underwear.
He managed to get himself to a cousin’s house nearby and the women inside that address called 999, themselves in terror and not even recognising the victim.
Miss Knight said the police investigation was launched and through painstaking work detectives identified who in the gang was involved and they were arrested, interviewed and later charged.
In his victim impact statement, the man, whose identity is protected by law, said: “The whole incident has completely shattered me and I struggle to come to terms with it every single day. I was totally humiliated and I thought I was going to die.” Darshan Rathoor, 58, formerly of Larwood Grove, Woodthorpe and now of High Street, Mablethorpe, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail.
He was sent to prison for 16 years. David James, mitigating, said: “There is no evidence he was involved in any physical violence.
“He does not blame anyone else for his behaviour.”
Sirvan Rathoor, 30, of Larwood Grove, Woodthorpe, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail.
He was jailed for 13 years. Laura Pitman, defending, said: “How does a well-educated man get himself involved in serious criminality of this nature? Misguided family loyalty. He was working at the HMRC having graduated from university, had a wife and two twin daughters aged two.
“This was not a conspiracy he was a mastermind of and he never expected the violence to escalate to the level it did.”
Inderpal Singh, 34, of Pemberton Street, in the city centre, a nephew of Darshan Rathoor, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail. He was put behind bars for 14 years.
Richard Thatcher, his barrister, said: “He has a young son aged six with autism with whom he has a close connection and that close connection has largely been lost as a result of his own actions.”
Jamie Raggett, 20, of Headley Road, Liphook, Hampshire, and who was recruited by Kalsah Singh, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to blackmail.
He was sent to prison for 12 years. Jon Harrison, mitigating, said: “How does a (then) 18-year-old man with a tragic upbringing, who knows nobody in Nottingham and has never been north of Watford, find himself in a court facing these serious criminal charges?
“He allowed his personal mobile phone to be used on 18 occasions, it connected 14 times, and he overheard what was said (the blackmail threats).”
Nerver Singh, 56, an alcoholdependent close family friend, of Revelstoke Way, Top Valley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail.
He was jailed for six years. Julia King, defending, said: “His role was to provide premises and that represents the extent of his involvement.
He acted under direction and at the time was drinking heavily and unwell. He drinks alcohol, strong alcohol to excess every day. The future for him is bleak.”
And Kalsah Singh, better known as Chris Singh and who is another family member of Darshan Rathoor, 39, of Salisbury Road, Southsea, Hampshire, was found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail following a trial.
He was put behind bars for 18 years. Robert Bryan, his barrister, said: “For all of the wrong reasons he has turned his family upside down.”
As well as the jail terms, Judge Auty handed each of the defendants lifetime restraining orders not to contact the victim.
The Post has requested the six defendants’ custody photographs from Nottinghamshire Police and is waiting to receive them.
He believed he was going to be shot, strangled or stabbed to death.this was torture for the pleasure of torture.
Judge Michael Auty KC