Boy kidnapped for Tk 5.5 lakh ransom

A gang demanded Tk 5.5 lakh ransom from a family, claiming to have kidnapped their 11-year-old child on Friday from Keraniganj, on the outskirts of the capital.

Abdullah, son of Badal Hossain, an expatriate living in Kuwait, has been missing since that noon, police said, quoting family members. The fifth-grader went out after Juma prayers at Mugarchar in Keraniganj but did not return home, his grandfather Marfat Ali told police.  

Around 5:30pm, someone texted to one's cell phone, saying that Abdullah had been kidnapped and that his family had to pay Tk 5.5 lakh for his release, Marfat said.

The incident happened on the day the bodies of three kidnapped children were recovered in Tangail and Rangpur. Abdullah's grandfather filed a general diary with Keraniganj Model Police Station on Friday night. Inspector (investigation) Ansari Zinnat Ali of the police station said the kidnappers might have been known to the child's family.  Police launched a drive to rescue the child, he said, adding that the phone number used to text the message had been found switched off.