![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/12\/17\/78877157-12855793-image-a-9_1702402479627.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThree gang members who kidnapped and stripped naked a man over a \u00a3100,000 debt before holding him prisoner for five days have been jailed.<\/p>\n
The victim, in his 20s, was snatched off the street by the violent criminals after he took too long to repay the money.<\/p>\n
Another innocent bystander was also abducted after finding himself ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’ and went onto to be beaten alongside the debtor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pair, who were taken off the streets of Reading in Berkshire, were held in a small kitchen flat where they were stripped of their clothes and subjected to repeated assaults.<\/p>\n
The horrendous ordeal finally came to an end when a heavily armed police squad rescued them in a dramatic raid on December 13, 2021.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ringleader\u00a0Erlind Demiraj, 32,\u00a0was found guilty after a four-week trial of one count each of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/12\/17\/78877155-12855793-image-a-10_1702402483766.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Gevin\u00a0Pasha,22, was convicted of two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of conspiracy to blackmail, conspiracy to kidnap and assault occasioning actual bodily harm<\/p>\n
Today,\u00a0\u00a0Erlind Demiraj, 32, Klej Doci, 20, and Gevin Pasha, 22 were respectively\u00a0 sentenced to 16 years, 11 year, and five years’ imprisonment for their crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n Judge Heather Norton, sentencing the three men at Reading Crown Court said: ‘This kidnapping was carefully planned and those five days were spent by not just one but two victims who were made to sleep on the floor in a small room, not given water or food, and forbidden to go to the toilet.<\/p>\n ‘One of the victims appears to have been taken simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessed the kidnapping.’<\/p>\n Shehzab Khan had owed the gang a large debt of \u00a3100,000 which led the criminals to threaten and blackmail him and his parents over the course of 2021.<\/p>\n The court heard that throughout the year,\u00a0Khan’s parents were even forced to re-mortgage their home to repay the gang \u00a348,000 of that debt.<\/p>\n When the parents could no longer pay the three defendants – along with other members of the gang –\u00a0\u00a0decided to kidnap and hold Mr Khan hostage in a bid to force his parents to find more money in exchange for his release.<\/p>\n The abduction took place on December 8 2021, when Mr Khan was kidnapped from Maiden Place in Lower Earley, Reading, at around 6.30pm.\u00a0<\/p>\n He was kidnapped along with another man aged in his 20s, who was described by the prosecution as ‘collateral damage’ as he was a witness to Mr Khan’s kidnapping.<\/p>\n Fourth defendant\u00a0Garcon Lala, 28, previously admitted two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of conspiracy to blackmail, conspiracy to kidnap and assault occasioning actual bodily harm<\/p>\n Both men were then driven to a flat in Northampton where they were kept hostage for five days until police rescued them following a raid on December 13, 2021.<\/p>\n The prisoners were finally rescued by police following a dramatic raid on December 13, 2021.<\/p>\n Although many shots were fired by police during the raid, no-one suffered any gunshot wounds, the judge heard.<\/p>\n Mr Khan, however, suffered deep bruises, cuts and cigarette burns from his time spent in captivity.<\/p>\n Sentencing, Judge Norton told the court: ‘The two victims were held and assaulted over the course of five days.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘They were kept in the flat’s small kitchen, deprived of water and food, and prevented from going to the toilet. Mr Khan was humiliated by being forced to strip and remained without clothing for some time, hit with a hammer and with a plank of wood, later found by police in the flat.’<\/p>\n Ringleader Demiraj, of Orts Road, Reading, was later arrested by Dutch authorities attempting to cross from Belgium into the Netherlands and was extradited to the UK in November last year.<\/p>\n He was found guilty after a four-week trial of one count each of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail.\u00a0<\/p>\n He pleaded guilty to one count of perverting the course of justice in February this year, which followed his attempts to intimidate the Khan family into refusing to give evidence for the prosecution during the trial. He was sentenced to 16 years.<\/p>\n Upon sentencing the judge said: ‘It is entirely clear that Mr Demiraj was the person in charge.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘His demands for money were made not only to Mr Khan but also to his parents who were kept under pressure through various threatening behaviours including driving past the family home, photographing the family home, visiting the family home and demanding money directly from the parents.’\u00a0<\/p>\n Pasha, of Gray Street, Northampton, was convicted of two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of conspiracy to blackmail, conspiracy to kidnap and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.<\/p>\n Doci, of St Margaret’s Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, was convicted of two counts of false imprisonment and one count of conspiracy to kidnap. He was cleared of one count of conspiracy to blackmail and common assault.<\/p>\n As he was only 18-years-old at the time of the offence, Doci was sentenced to five years in a young offenders’ institution.<\/p>\n A fourth defendant, Garcon Lala, 28, of Eastern Road, Haringey, London, previously admitted two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of conspiracy to blackmail, conspiracy to kidnap and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He will be sentenced at the same court later.<\/p>\n A fifth man, Gentjan Kica, 34, of Glenrosa Road, Reading, was cleared of one count of conspiracy to blackmail.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/12\/17\/78877153-12855793-image-a-11_1702402489596.jpg\")
<\/p>\n