Pancharagh-Rangpur highway blocked for an hour

Agitating dwellers of Kaharol upazila in Dinajpur yesterday blocked Panchagarh-Rangpur highway for an hour after a teenage boy was allegedly kidnapped from his school area.

The blockade started at 11:00am. Police, however, managed to convince the protesters and lift the blockade before 12:00 noon, said Auyb Ali, officer-in-charge of Kaharol Police Station.

Al-Amin, 13, who was allegedly abducted, claimed a group of criminals picked him up in a microbus on his way to school around 10:00am.

He somehow managed to flee the abductors as the microbus took a break at Ramdubi village in the district’s Sadar upazila. With the help of Ramdubi dwellers, he contacted his father over phone and returned home around 10:45am, Al-Amin added.

As the news spread, agitating villagers blocked the road.

Locals of the Ramdubi village, however, said Al-Amin was roaming around the area in school uniform. With a mobile phone in his hand, he was looking for a job in different stores.

Due to his suspicious activities, Ramdubi dwellers held him and then handed him over to his father, they said.

Abu Sayem, superintendent of Dinajpur Police, said the incident was mysterious and they were investigating.