Author: Manoj Prasad
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 11, 2005
With over two dozen cases of loot,
murder and extortion registered against him, Hidayat Khan was the "terror"
of Jamshedpur in the early 1990s. Now, his appointment last month as an
"adviser" to the, Union Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers, headed by
Ramvilas Paswan, has raised many a eyebrow in the political circles.
The post is one of the two created
by the Minister in each of the 28 states.
Traders in Jugsalai area of Jamshedpur
still remember Khan as a petty criminal who extorted money from them, while
his father Enayatullah Khan salad fruits.
Khan has come a long way ever since.
He contested the last Assembly elections from Jamshedpur on a LJP ticket
and finished third.
"My grandfather Rahmat Khan was
a follower of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. And it was my father who set
up the fruit business. Although the police slapped several cases on me,
the court has acquitted me in all of them. I thank Paswaryi for finding
me fit for the post of adviser," Khan told The Indian Express here.
If police records are to be believed,
Khan fought a long and bloody battle against his rivals to establish a
monopoly over Tisco's iron-scrap business, which was then dominated by
the likes of don Birendra Singh.
"It was not easy for him to gain
a toehold, but with crores of rupees at stake, Hidayat was determined to
eliminate Singh," said a former IPS officer who was then posted as the
SP of Jamshedpur.
