Man to die for killing schoolboy after abduction in Keraniganj

A Dhaka court has sentenced a young man to death in a case over the murder of schoolboy Sohag Khan in captivity in Dhaka’s South Keraniganj four years ago.

Judge Ismat Jahan handed down the verdict on Wednesday.

The convict, Yasin Mahmud Shahin, 28, was present in court to hear the verdict. He was also fined Tk 20,000 and sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of concealing evidence, prosecution lawyer Farid Uddin Ahmed said.

The security personnel sent him back to prison after the hearing.

Sohag’s family expressed satisfaction over the verdict. “We are happy. We hope the top court will uphold the verdict,” Sohag’s father Idris Ali said, demanding a quick execution. 

Sohag, a fifth-grader at Oriental School in Keraniganj’s Mirerbagh, was kidnapped by Shahin while he was playing a mobile game outside his home after school on Apr 30, 2018.

Shahin demanded Tk 500,000 as ransom, threatening to kill the boy if the family did not pay the amount in an hour, according to the case dossier. 

Sohag’s family contacted the Rapid Action Battalion and the elite force advised them to report the incident to the local police station. Shahin called several times during that time. Later, the law enforcers arrested him in Mirerbagh’s Balur Math area by tracking his calls.

Sohag was later found with his hands, nose and mouth wrapped in scotch tape in Shahin’s house. The doctor declared him dead after he was taken to Mitford Hospital in Dhaka.

Sohag’s father filed a case that day with South Keraniganj Police Station over the incident.

Police pressed charges in the case against Shahin and his friend Sazzad Ahmed Nishad after completing the investigation.

The court cleared Nishad of charges afterwards and started the trial against Shahin in the case.