Lifer for 9 in kidnap case

HYDERABAD: The first additional metropolitan sessions judge on Wednesday sentenced to life nine persons in connection with the abduction of a nine-year-old boy in 2004.  The alleged mastermind behind the abduction, gangster Abid Hussain alias Ali Bhai, was acquitted along with seven other accused.Satish Kumar was kidnapped from his house in February 2004 by nine  persons, including two women. The accused allegedly demanded `2 crore from the boy’s father Basava Lingamurthy.  The boy was, however, set free unharmed by the kidnappers in Maharashtra.A Hyderabadi living in Dubai, Ali Bhai, is alleged to be the kingpin of a gang carrying out abductions for  ransoms in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Gujarat. He was arrested by the city police in March 2007 and is presently lodged in Nellore jail.In the chargesheet, investigators were unable to establish the role of Ali Bhai in this case as he allegedly operated from Dubai through mobile phones and directed his aides to carry out the abductions. However, police said they would move the higher court against Ali Bhai’s acquittal.  The convicted are Syed Ameenullah, Mohd Kausar, Mohd Abrar Ahmed, Rasheed Ahmed Khan, Akber Hussain Khan, Srija Menon, Nitesh, Arun More and Anil.