Punjabi-origin man jailed in UK for kidnapping
Thursday, 17/07/2014
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LONDON: Kulvinder Singh Uppal, who was described as the lynchpin of a gang that brought a woman from India on the pretext of a job in the UK and then forced her into sex for money, has been jailed for five years after he was extradited from India.
Punjabi-origin Uppal, 50, had fled to India, but was pursued by the police in Leicestershire, who succeeded in extraditing him in November last year. Six other members of the group were jailed in 2011, and another in 2012.
The offence took place in July 2010. The woman had been kidnapped at knifepoint from her house in the Highfields area of Leicester.
The police said: “She was an Indian national who had been brought into this country on the pretext that she would work as a dancer in the entertainment industry. However, when she arrived in the UK, she was made to offer sexual services to men in return for money.”
She made her bid for freedom when the gang dropped her at Birmingham Airport, while they were trying to take her back to India. Detective inspector Tim Lindley said: “The victim was threatened with sexual violence and also death. She is now getting on with her life, but she is still wary when she is in public four years on.”
On Uppal, he said: “He was undoubtedly the lynchpin, and he enjoyed the control he had over his victim. I would like to thank the Indian authorities for their cooperation, and also the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Serious Organised Crime Agency/National Crime Agency.”
