5 BCL men held for kidnapping 3 for ransom

Police arrested five activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) from Upashahar area of Sylhet on Wednesday on charge of kidnapping three people for ransom. The arrested were identified as M Moshahid Khan and Sumon Ahmed of Sahidpur village in Jakiganj upazila, Badrul Amin of Daloimati village in Kanaighat upazila, Chanchal Kumar Das of Shalla upazila in Sunamganj, and Minmar Ali of Astagram upazila in Kishoreganj. Shahin Ahmed, a rural medical practitioner and son of late Abdur Rahman of Sonapur village in Dakkhin Surma upazila, lodged a case against the BCL men. As per the case statement, a group of youths, led by BCL leader Moshahid Khan, picked up Shahin and two traders Maruf and Lahin from in front of Garden Tower in the Upashahar area on Tuesday. Later, they took them to a house in the area, beat them and demanded ransom for release. In the early hours of Wednesday, Maruf and Lahin bought freedom in exchange for Tk 50,000. As the kidnappers demanded Tk 2 lakh to Shahin, he informed his friend Sohel Rana about the matter over phone who approached Shahparan Police Station. Later, a police team raided the house on Wednesday afternoon, rescued the victim and arrested the BCL activists, according to a news agency.