The families of two teenage boys, who went missing on their way to work in Chittagong city on Thursday, have claimed that the two friends were abducted for ransom.
The missing teenagers, Rabbi, 17, and Hossain, 18, left their homes at Bayezid area on Thursday morning to join their new jobs at a juice factory in Agrabad, family members said.
Rabbi’s father, Mohammad Babul, a resident of Rasel Colony, told the Dhaka Tribune that his son left the house after getting a call from Hossain around 11:30am on Thursday, which was a public holiday. Neither boy returned home that night.
The next day, around 1pm, Rabbi’s mother got a call on her mobile phone from Hossain’s number. Rabbi spoke to her, claiming that he was abducted by some people who wanted Tk32,000 to free him.
During the conversation, Rabbi said he would be trafficked abroad if the ransom was not paid.
“I grabbed the phone from my wife and a person on the other side told me to send the money through BKash, but I refused to do it,” the father said.
On Friday afternoon, Babul informed the Bayezid police, while Hossain’s elder brother, Hasan, lodged a general dairy in this connection. But they could not give any specific reason or name any suspects behind the abductions.
The police confirmed that they had received complaints from the families and were looking into the matter.
The alleged kidnappers, meanwhile, phoned Rabbi’s father again yesterday afternoon demanding ransom.
Later, the detective branch (DB) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police was informed about the matter.
Sairul Islam, officer-in-charge of Bayezid police station, said they were investigating the incident. However, he had some suspicious whether the alleged kidnappings were staged by the teenagers.
Babul Akhter, additional deputy commissioner of DB, said they were taking the matter seriously, considering the recent spree of abductions across the country.
An investigator, on condition of anonymity, said the location of Hossain’s mobile phone was traced to Ukhia in Cox’s Bazar district.
Both Rabbi and Hossain used to work at Sadmusa Garments Factory in the port city’s Oxygen area. But Hossain lost his job recently and worked as a rickshaw puller.