A special court in the city today awarded life sentence to five accused, including a death convict in the US Center attack case, in the Partha Roy Burman abduction case, in which the shoe baron who owns Khadim shoes was kidnapped in 2001 and released after a reported ransom of Rs 3.75 crore.

Announcing the verdict, the judge of the Special Court at Alipore, Biswarup Banerjee, acquitted 17 other accused for lack of evidence.

Among those convicted on Wednesday was Aftab Ansari, a Dubai-based don who was sent to the gallows after being convicted in the American Center (USIS) attack case in April, 2005. Five policemen were killed during the attack on January 22, 2002. Ansari was alleged to the prime mover in the plot to avenge the killing of Asif Reza Khan, one his gang members, in an “encounter” in Gujarat. 

Roy Burman was abducted from Tiljala near his factory on July 23, 2001 and was kept in captivity in a house in North 24 Parganas near the Indo-Bangladesh border for eight days. In the meantime, his abductors reportedly negotiated with his family and collected a ransom of about Rs 3.75 crore. Roy Barman and his family members, who had been witnesses in the case, however, turned hostile during the hearing and denied having paid any ransom.

Wednesday’s verdict was delivered from the Special Court inside Alipore Central Jail, where the trial for the case was held in view of the sensitive nature of the case and the profile of the main accused. No outsiders, including the media, were allowed inside.

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