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Bengal

14-year-old boy kidnapped, murdered

The body of a 14-year-old boy was recovered from near a local pond on Sunday night. His parents are still in shock and are unable to come to terms with the gruesome murder of their son. 

He went out to play on Sunday evening but did not return. Initial reports suggested that Bittu was murdered for a ransom of Rs 50,000 and his body was dumped behind their house at Haridevpur.

The victim, the elder of two brothers, was a class X student of Behala Vivekananda High School.

Like all Sundays he went out for fishing in a pond near his house at Barabagan Vidyasagar Palli in Haridevpur after returning from a relative’s house in the locality. 

He went to the relative’s house along with his father, Nirmal Das, to attend an invitation. Later at around 4.30 pm he went to play in the playground adjacent to the pond but didn’t return till late evening.

His parents were worried and were discussing whether to initiate a search when they received the first of the five calls from the same cell phone number 898174xxxx. It was around 8.35 pm when they received the first call. 

Initially the victim’s parents thought that somebody must be playing a prank on them but the matter soon turned serious when they received a second call after an hour. The caller claimed that they had kidnapped their son and demanded a ransom of Rs 50,000. 

The victim’s mother Jayanti Das said: “My husband is a driver of private cars. It is quite difficult for me to give Rs 50,000 instantly but without thinking how to arrange the money, I told them that we are ready to pay, but nothing should happen to my son.”

“My husband took the call the third time where they told us not to inform the police. My husband assured them that we will neither infirm the police nor anyone of any political party,” she said, adding that they had informed the police after 10 pm when the callers didn’t tell them the place of submitting the ransom, despite calling five times.

The victim’s parents found the cell phone switched off when they tried to contact them in between.

Later, when all the family members along with the neighbours were near the pond and others were searching the boy, a local resident saw the body and informed others. 

The boy’s hands and legs were tied with pieces of clothes. There were injury marks on his face and a noose mark around the neck. Moreover there were no clothes in the lower part of his body nor was he wearing shoes. 

He was just wearing his t-shirt when the body was found. It led to the suspicion of the police that the victim might have also been subjected to sexual harassment.

Police took him to hospital where he was declared dead and the body has been sent for an autopsy. 

Local people put up a road block on James Long Sarani on Monday morning protesting against the incident and demanding immediate arrest of the accused. It led to massive traffic congestion in the area.
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