One killed, another freed on ransom

Robbers killed a staffer of a stranded cargo boat and realised ransom for release of an abductee at Elisha of Bhola Sadar upazila on Thursday.

The sand-laden cargo, going to Chattogram from Sylhet, got stuck on a submerged island in the Magna river on Sunday during the tidal surges effected by cyclone Bubul.

The boat was on wait for a suitable high tide period for its movement, when a gang of robbers got on it around 4:00am on Thursday, said police.

They killed Dalim Mallik, 39, son of Selim Mallik of Boritoli village in Barguna, and abducted Md Jafor, manager of the boat, for ransom.

Police recovered the body from Elisha area on Thursday evening.

“Seeing a trawler coming towards us, I with five others of the cargo boat went inside the cabin and locked its door. The pirates got on the vessel, fired a bullet and broke open the door,” Md Jafor said.

“The armed robbers beat us mercilessly. At one stage, Dalim became senseless and they kicked him into the river, causing his death. They took me to their trawler that carried us to a lonely island after two hours. Demanding Tk 5 lakh for my release, they started torturing me.

“I managed to get Tk 1.45 to my bKash account from different sources and sent the money to several numbers as per instructions from the robbers. After getting the money, they released me in the evening.

“After reaching Kamolnagar of Lamxipur on a fishing boat, I phoned my other companions. By the time, they had been rescued by Bhola Sadar police,” Jafor said.    

Police detained a bKash agent from where some of the ransom money was withdrawn on Thursday night and following information from him, later arrested two robbers.

“A case for abduction and murder was filed with Bhola Sadar Police Station against six robbers. The body was sent to Bhola Sadar Hospital for autopsy. Police arrested two of the gang and raids are on to detain others,” said Sarkar Mohammad Kaiser, superintendent of police, Bhola.