Missing son didn’t return home even after payment of ransom, says Faridpur woman

A woman said on Friday that abductors did not release her son even after she paid them a ransom in the presence of police in Faridpur.

Faridpur Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 23 June 2018, 12:36 PM
Updated : 23 June 2018, 12:36 PM

Jannati Begum, the wife of Greece-based migrant worker Abdul Hossain from Pagalpara village in Nagarkanda, made the allegation in a media briefing at Faridpur Press Club.

The police denied the allegation and claimed they had instructed the victim’s family not to pay any ransom.

At least three people were detained over the abduction, according to the police.

In a statement, Jannati said her eldest son Alauddin Antar, an eighth-grade student at Talma Nazimuddin High School, was kidnapped after he left home for prayers in a mosque on Jun 7.

Jannati said she found her son’s phone switched off when she called him around 10pm. Later, she filed a general diary with Nagarkanda Police Station.

As soon as Jannati returned from the police station, she received a message on her phone with a demand for Tk 500,000 in ransom for her son’s freedom.  She reported it to the police and the Rapid Action Battalion immediately.

The family launched a weeklong search, but it yielded nothing. Later, the family agreed to pay the ransom to abductors on Jun 14 at a school in Bhangar area.

Later, the kidnappers suggested another place near Talma Jailya Bridge for the ransom and told her to stash the money away in a shanty near the bridge at night.

Jannati said she went to the spot with Sub-Inspector Kabir and two other officers. “I went into the shanty and kept Tk 140,000 in a pot inside, while the policemen were hiding nearby.”

Minutes later, two men came to the spot with a torch, grabbed the money and walked away, but the police did not arrest them, according to Jannati.

“Police have noticed them but did not make any move to arrest them,” she said.

Jannati quoted one of the policemen as saying: “You will lose your son if we arrest them.”

“Sub-Inspector Lutfar counted the money before paying the kidnappers,” Jannati alleged.

Following the incident, Nagarkanda Police chief Syed Lutfar Rahman said a case was filed over the incident.

Md Mohiuddin, an assistant superintendent of police, said Antar was seen in Faridpur on a motorbike, a day after the GD was filed. An effort is underway to trace Antar as early as possible.