Police on Friday night rescued a boy from a hotel in the capital’s Gulistan area who was kidnapped from Mohammadpur on July 22 after posting an advertisement online to sell a mobile phone.
Police also arrested seven people for their involvement in abducting Md Mohaiminul Islam alias Anas. The 19-year-old completed his higher secondary studies from Mohammadpur Model School and College last year.
The seven are Md Shahadat Hossain, Md Sharif Hossain, Nidhan Chandra Das, Md Selim, hotel employee Md Abdul Quader, bKash agent Md Nasir Uddin and his employee Md Bappy.
Anas was abducted from in front of a branch of Islami Bank in Shekhertek, some five minutes from his home in the area.
He told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that Sharif called him after he posted an ad on Facebook and also on Bikroy.com to sell his cellular phone.
“Sharif wanted to meet me, saying he would like to verify the phone’s configuration. It was raining when I reached where he wanted to meet. He told me to get in a microbus he had come in to avoid being drenched,” said Anas.
“Some four to five men got into the vehicle right after I did and warned me not to shout. They also covered my face with black a cloth. After the microbus reached Hotel Boishakhi in Gulistan, they took off the cloth and said they would kill me if I screamed for help.”
The teenager was taken to a room on the fourth floor of the hotel and the abductors called his father from his phone. They initially demanded Tk10,000 in ransom but raised the amount to Tk1,000,000 a day later.
Anas’ father Md Fakhrul Islam, who worked in Saudi Arabia for 23 years, told the Dhaka Tribune he filed a general diary with Adabor police station on July 22 and a case with the same police station the following day.
“I preferred informing police rather than complying with the threat to pay the ransom. I am happy that I have got back my son. I am also content with the excellent job that law enforcement officials have done.
“Who could assure me that I would get back my son after I paid the money? That is why I decided to go to police because even if the abductors had killed my son, law enforcers would nab them,” added the father.
Anas said the kidnappers had tortured him at the time of talking to his father over the phone to get the ransom fast.
“They hit me in my knees with metal locks. I posted such advertisements several times in the past but never got into any such situation,” said Anas who had injury marks in his shoulders as well.
“Detectives, after rescuing Anas from the hotel room, arrested Shahadat, Sharif, Nidhan and Selim from there,” said Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, at a press briefing at the DMP media centre yesterday.
“We later arrested hotel employee Quader, who said during interrogation that he had received ransom from bKash agent Nasir and Nasir’s employee Bappy in connection with similar crimes committed in the past.
“Police have found that kidnappers have been using the hotel for several years. As a hotel employee has been found to have connections with criminals, we will keep an eye on all such employees in the capital,” he added.
