A Bangladesh Krishi Bank branch manager has alleged that he was abducted, tortured and forced to pay ransom in Gazipur’s Kaliakair upazila.
The victim, Abdus Sabur, manager of the bank’s Kaliakair branch, said he was picked up by a group of men in a microbus from the Kaliakair Bypass area around 5:30pm on Thursday.
The abductors allegedly tied his hands, feet, eyes and mouth, beat him inside the vehicle for nearly five hours and forced him to arrange Tk1 lakh in ransom through mobile financial services.
Sabur said the men also tried to force him to help them enter the bank at night and open the vault.
“They told me Tk5,000-Tk6,000 was not enough and that they had other plans for me because I was a bank manager,” Sabur told journalists from the hospital.
He said he had just left the office and was waiting for a bus to Bogra when a white microbus stopped near him.
“Three men got out of the vehicle, pushed me inside and shut the door. They started beating me and asked what I did for a living. When I said I was a bank manager, they asked what I had with me. I gave them everything I had,” he said.
Sabur said he had only around Tk5,000-Tk6,000 in his wallet, after which the abductors demanded more money.
Fearing for his life, he said, he called acquaintances and asked them to send money urgently.
The bank official said the abductors later told him to accompany them to the bank, ask the security guard to open the main gate and help them take money from the vault.
“I told them the vault keys were not with me and that the vault could not be opened by one person. The keys are kept with three people,” he said.
Sabur alleged that the abductors tortured him when he refused to cooperate. He said one of them tried to pull out his fingernails with pliers and that one fingernail on his left hand was torn off.
He said they also beat him on the chest, back and knees and later tried to strangle him with a towel.
“At one point, I lost consciousness. When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying beside the Chandra-Nabinagar Highway in the Kabirpur area, with my hands and feet tied,” he said.
An autorickshaw driver later helped untie him and took him toward the branch area, Sabur added.
He first received treatment at Rumaisa Clinic in the Truck Stand area and was later admitted to Kaliakair Upazila Health Complex.
Sabur is from Bogra Sadar and lives in Bogra town.
Kaliakair police station Officer-in-Charge Shahidul Islam said police had heard about the incident.
“The injured bank official is receiving treatment at hospital. After recovering, he may file a complaint in consultation with the bank authorities. Police are working to identify and arrest the abductors,” the OC said.
As of 11am on Friday, neither the bank authorities nor Sabur had filed a complaint with the police, the OC added.