Kidnapped boy found dead

A two-day search for a six-year-old boy kidnapped for ransom from the capital's Lalbagh area ended in a shock yesterday, when a neighbour admitted to have killed the kid.

Based on the confession of Arifur Rahman Jewel, 27, Rab members recovered the body of Habibur Rahman Rifat from the Buriganga river in Barishurghat area of Keraniganj.

Dumped in a sack, they boy's hands and legs were tied with ropes.

The victim's father Md Rafiq had been waiting for his son's safe return.

He said the abductor assured him by phone that his son would be returned if the ransom was paid, but he was shocked when his neighbour Jewel emerged as the abductor and killer.

Rifat had gone missing on Tuesday evening. Around 11:30pm, an unknown caller phoned his father and demanded Tk 10 lakh for his safe return, said Rajib Hossain, victim's cousin.

Following an intense negotiation, the abductor agreed to return Rifat for Tk 1 lakh. He instructed the family to leave the money in a hole in the ground in front of Azimpur Chhapra Mosque in Azimpur.

Meanwhile, the family already filed a general diary with Lalbagh police and sought help from the Rab.

As promised, Rifat's father left the money on Wednesday evening, but plainclothes Rab personnel, already on the spot, arrested Jewel when he went there to pick up the cash.