Tycoon ambushed by BEST PAL and armed gang who demand his Rolls Royce and £10,000 ransom

Zahid Khan, 28, had planned to show boyhood friend Rizwan Jahangir his new motor - but instead found himself being threatened with two guns

A young businessman has spoken for the first time about the terrifying moment a gang swooped to snatch his brand new Rolls-Royce – and held two guns to his head.

Zahid Khan, 28, told the Birmingham Mail how he was kidnapped by the thugs who stole his £250,000 car and demanded a cash ransom.

Now the four men, including one of Mr Khan’s best friends, have been jailed at Birmingham Crown Court for a total of 41 years for blackmail and firearm offences.

They were cleared of kidnap.

Mr Khan said he was ambushed on the very day he had bought his dream machine, when he proudly took it round to show to boyhoood pal Rizwan Jahangir.

But when he arrived at the address Jahangir and three other men were waiting for him.

The 28-year-old victim says he was blindfolded and held for seven hours before being forced to tell family members to hand over £10,000 in cash and his collection of expensive watches.

He says the gang, who were led by Jahangir, dumped him out of a car on to his own doorstep the following morning so that he could collect even more cash for the safe return of the car.

But instead the trainee pilot called in police who drafted in armed officers to arrest the gang in a dramatic sting operation that was caught on camera in Coventry on April 5.

Zahid, whose wife was pregnant with their daughter at the time, says he was “stabbed in the back” by his greedy former friend Jahangir.

Zahid, who is hoping to become an airline pilot, said: “I had only bought the car on that day and was only covered with third party insurance when they took it.

“I had gone to visit Rizwan to show it him, but he stabbed me in the back. We had grown up together and I had known him for 15 years before he betrayed me.

“When I arrived there were three other men with him and I was bundled into the back of a car and blindfolded.

“They took my wallet and I was forced to call my family who left out £10,000 on the doorstep along with my watches.”

Zahid says he was held hostage between 10pm on April 3 and 5am on April 4 and says the Birmingham-based gang had initially demanded £1 million.

He added: “They started out by asking for £1 million, it was ridiculous.

“At one point they pointed two guns against my forehead whilst I was blindfolded and threatened to kill me.

“Once they had picked up the £10,000 and my watches they let me go and effectively held my car ransom to try and blackmail even more money from me.

“I think they had plans to ship the car out of the country and I don’t think I would have seen it again even if I did hand over extra money.

“Everything has changed since this happened and I am far more careful about everything.

“They could have killed me, but I believe that justice has been served with the length of the sentences they were given.

“I am happy that they are behind bars where they belong.”

He said police recovered the vehicle from a car park in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, and also managed to recover the £10,000 in cash, but not the six watches that had been handed over.

Mr Khan added: “They basically came after me because I have money.

“I am successful and so is my family and they just wanted to take what I have. That is the only reason that I was targeted. It was pure jealousy."

Six Birmingham men were all charged by police with conspiracy to commit kidnap, conspiracy to commit blackmail and possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

Two were found not guilty of all of the offences on April 2, a further four were found not guilty of kidnap, but were found guilty of blackmail and firearm offences.

Rizwan Jahangir, 37, and Blall Harron,31, were found guilty of blackmail and possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and were jailed for 13 years and 12 years respectively.

Liaquat Hussain, 34, and Imran Ashraf, 35, were found guilty of blackmail and each jailed for eight years.

Dramatic pictures of the arrest of the gang was captures by passers by. The Volkswagen golf car the kidnappers used was rammed by unmarked police cars in the Foleshill area of Coventry and four men were dragged out and made to lie face-down on the pavement by armed police. A firearm was also recovered from the car.


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