Student abducted, killed after family pays Tk4 lakh of Tk15 lakh ransom

A 17-year-old student was abducted in Dhaka's Kafrul and killed after his family paid Tk4 lakh of the Tk15 lakh ransom demanded by the abductors, police said.

Kafrul police have arrested Md Abdullah Al Mamun alias Mamun Sarker, 24, in connection with the abduction and murder and said they have uncovered the circumstances surrounding the killing.

At a briefing at the DMP Media Centre yesterday (7 October), DMP Joint Commissioner (Crime Prevention-North) Md Mahidul Islam said Mamun allegedly lured Md Rakibul Islam out of his residence through WhatsApp and took him to a house in Shukrabad.

According to police, Mamun told investigators that Rakib died during a scuffle after he allegedly twisted the teenager's neck while pressuring him to arrange the ransom.

Rakib lived in a shared apartment in East Shewrapara and was preparing for university admission at a coaching centre in Farmgate after completing his HSC examinations.

At around 4pm on 16 September, he left the apartment after receiving a WhatsApp call asking him to come outside and did not return.

His family later received calls and messages demanding Tk15 lakh in ransom, with threats to kill him if they failed to pay, police said. They paid Tk4 lakh in several installments to four bKash and three Nagad numbers.

His elder brother, Johurul Islam Jibon, initially filed a general diary with Kafrul police before filing a case over the abduction and ransom demand.

During the investigation, police used technology to identify Mamun as the user of two WhatsApp numbers used to demand the ransom.

Mamun was arrested from the Shukrabad bus stand area under Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station at around 6pm on 5 October.

During interrogation, he said he had met Rakib online several months earlier and called him on WhatsApp on 16 September, asking him to meet near Shewrapara Metro Rail Station before taking him to his house in Shukrabad, police said.

A scuffle broke out when Mamun allegedly pressured Rakib over the ransom. During the altercation, he allegedly twisted Rakib's neck, causing his death, police said.

Mamun then concealed Rakib's body in a carton and took it by autorickshaw to Gabtoli bus stand before travelling to Dimla in Nilphamari by bus and other vehicles, police said.

On 17 September, he allegedly buried the body, along with the carton, in a betel nut orchard in front of his house, according to his statement to police.

Acting on Mamun's information, police recovered the body from the site at around 3:30pm on Tuesday (6 October) with assistance from Dimla police. Jibon later identified the body.

The body was sent to Nilphamari Modern Sadar Hospital for autopsy.

Police recovered Tk50,000 of the ransom money in cash from Mamun. He was later sent to court for recording his confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Mahidul Islam said investigators were examining whether anyone else was involved, how the ransom was transferred and whether there was any other motive behind the murder.