Jailed Nepal TV chief shot at by ‘hitman’ from India

“We are still verifying Singh’s antecedents. He was found to be in possession of an identity card issued by the Election Commission of India. He has stated that he was paid to kill Ansari,” said police officials.

Sobhraj,Om Tandon,an Indian don being tried for extortion,and Ansari are among the five people lodged in the high-security “Golghar” cells. Police said they would question both Sobhraj and Tandon.

Ansari was reportedly near Sobhraj when he was shot. He was rushed to Norvic Hospital,where doctors said he was “out of danger”. Ansari,35,son of former Nepal minister Anis Ansari,is the chairman of private television channel National Television. He has been serving a jail sentence for nearly a year after having been found to be linked to a counterfeit Indian currency racket and drug trafficking.

Singh is suspected to have visited the jail at least twice in the last one week. Police suspect that he had gathered details about Ansari’s location,his routine and possible escape route. Initial reports said Singh carried the pistol in his jacket,but the police failed to detect it,although he passed through the metal detector.

The government has constituted an investigating team headed by an Assistant Inspector General of Police to conduct a probe into the security lapses. Ansari is believed to have received a threat about a year ago. Another media executive,Jamim Shah,chairman of Space Time Network Private Ltd who faced similar accusations,was shot dead in February last year.