A group of criminals shot and killed a school teacher and abducted his grandson in Shubhorajpur village, Meherpur in the early hours of Wednesday.
The deceased was Abdul Halim, 45, of Shuvorajpur village, sadar upazila, Meherpur, an assistant teacher at Nishchintapur Government Primary School in the upazila.
The abducted boy Atiar, 9, is a class four student at Kutubpur Government Primary School in the same upazila.
Riazul Islam, officer-in-charge of Meherpur sadar police station, said a group of 10-15 armed miscreants entered the house of Abdus Salam, the elder brother of the deceased and maternal grandfather of the abducted boy. They held all the residents of the house captive at gunpoint and attempted to kidnap Atiar.
As Halim resisted them, trying to snatch his niece’s son from their grasp, the criminals shot him to death. Neighbors rushed to the spot but the criminals managed to flee with Atiar after blasting at least eight crude bombs.
Atiar and his brother accompanied their mother came to his maternal grandfather Salam’s house at Shuvorajpur three days ago.
Atiar’s family members said a few months ago some unknown criminals came to their home in Kutubpur village and asked his uncle Ismail Hossain to pay them Tk200,000 as a “toll”. After Ismail refused, the criminals left after issuing threats.
After visiting the scene, Police Super Nahiduzzaman Nahid said the group of criminals may be comprised of both Bangladeshis and Indians and Atiar may have been taken to India. Police would try their best to rescue the abducted boy safely.
In the past, a number of kidnap victims in the border area have been retrieved from India after negotiations and paying of ransoms. Law enforcement agencies could do nothing in most of these cases, Nahid said.
Meanwhile, police recovered the body of the deceased and sent it to Meherpur General Hospital morgue for post mortem examination.
A case was lodged with the sadar police station.