‘Kidnapped’ Patiya child found dead after ransom demand

Police detain three neighbours after recovering the body from a pond near his neighbour’s house

A 5-year-old boy allegedly kidnapped from his home in Chattogram's Patiya has been found dead, with police detaining three neighbours over the incident.

The child's body was recovered from a pond beside a neighbour's house in Dakshin Gobindarkhil village of the municipality early on Thursday, hours after a ransom note demanding Tk 300,000 was discovered.

Ziaul Haque, chief of Patiya Police Station said the body of Md Zayan was recovered around 3am.

He said there were injury marks on the child's head and three neighbours had been taken into custody for questioning.

The names of those detained were not immediately disclosed.

Investigators are initially looking at a land dispute between the victim's family and the neighbouring household where the body was found as grounds for a motive.

Zayan, son of local garage owner Md Shahjahan, went missing from outside his home on Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking to local journalists earlier, Shahjahan said his son disappeared around midday and that he later found a handwritten note inside his house around 3:30pm demanding Tk 300,000 in ransom.

After failing to locate the child, he filed a general diary with Patiya Police Station that night.

The note warned that the boy would be killed if the money was not paid or if police were informed.

"Shahjahan, your son is with us," the note read. "If you try anything clever, you'll never find him again. Don't go to the police, or you'll find his body."

It also instructed the family to leave the cash and an unlocked mobile phone in a bag inside a broken roadside shop near their home and then remain indoors with the doors and windows shut.

“If you try anything clever, nothing will happen to me. You will never find your son in your life. The phone is to show you your son. It will be better if you follow what I said. And stop laying hands on people,” the handwritten message in Bangla said.

Shahjahan said he did not know who left the note or when it was placed inside his house, adding that he had no personal enmity with anyone.