Cousin among 7 teen kidnappers arrested by Rab
The Rapid Action Battalion yesterday rescued a three-year-old girl and arrested seven amateur kidnappers, six of whom are teenagers, at Chasara, Narayanganj.
Neha Akhter was kidnapped from Baro Moghbazar Friday afternoon by some teenagers, of whom one is her cousin Shaon. Neha is the only child of Saudi expatriate Abdur Rahman Bipul and Selina Akhter.
The arrested abductors are Shaon, 19, Rubel, 18, Shohag, 18, Jewel, 19, Al-Amin, 18 of Kaliapur in Madaripur, Azim, 15, of Pathantoli in Narayanganj and Amir Hossain, 24, of Patuakhali.
Lt Cdr Zarrar Hussain Khan, deputy director of Rab-3, said a team under his command arrested Al-Amin, Rubel and Azim from Chasara of Narayanganj around 11:00pm Sunday when the three went there to collect money from Neha’s two aunts.
In the face of Rab pressure the suspects contacted Shohag and Amir Hossain, who held Neha hostage at Shohag’s maternal grandparents’ house in Madaripur, and asked them to bring the child to a hotel at Jatrabari assuring them that they had received the ransom.
As Amir and Shohag reached Elishia bus counter at Jatrabari, Rab personnel arrested them and rescued Neha, said Lt Cdr Zarrar, adding that based on the information from these two Rab yesterday arrested Shaon at Nayatola in Moghbazar and Jewel at Madaripur.
At the Rab-3 office Shaon told The Daily Star that they made plans to abduct children after they had come to know about a family of Baro Moghbazar that about a month ago freed their child by paying ransom instead of going to the police.
He said they thought that it would be unwise to try the first abduction with an unknown child; so they chose Neha. They picked up Neha from in front of her house and took her to Mohakhali where there were Shohag and Al-Amin who had arranged Tk 3,000 for the operation and took the child to Madaripur.
Shaon gave up studies after class-VIII and made friends with some local teenagers who are involved with criminal activities, said Shaon’s aunt Dilara.
She said the kidnappers first demanded Tk 10 lakh over cellphone but later settled for Tk 2 lakh. Shaon kept overhearing the conversation with the kidnappers and informing them, she added.
Neha and her mother used to live in a flat on the first floor of the six-storey building that belonged to her maternal grandparents.
