TURA: The decomposed body of a 15-year-old boy abducted by a group of miscreants more than two weeks ago was found from a village in West Garo Hills on Monday after the arrest of four men involved in the crime.
The teenager, identified as Samjal Islam of Shyamding village, was abducted on December 9 by two men, Lokman Ali who is from the village and Babu.
The duo then handed the boy over to the head of a criminal gang identified as Karnesh Sangma (25) of Boldamgre village.
The gang, which was involved in murder and abduction in the past, called up Samjal Islam’s family and demanded ransom. They initially asked for Rs 15 lakh but scaled it down to Rs 2 lakh.
The teen’s family feared for the worst when repeated appeals to talk to the boy on the phone failed. A police FIR was filed five days after the abduction and Phulbari police soon zeroed in on the likely suspects.
The police arrested the mastermind, Lokman Ali, who soon spilled the beans and revealed that he along with one Babu had handed the child over to Karnesh and his gang at Boldamgre village.
Karnesh is an accused in the murder of an auto driver and was out on bail. Police arrested Karnesh and two others, Drinkson Ch Marak (20) of Dadenggre and Lipson Sangma (35) of Gomaijhora village.
They confessed that they had murdered the boy a week after he was taken captive but continued to negotiate with the family for ransom. The boy was gagged and his head was bludgeoned with a stone, police said.
The arrested men led the police to Boldamgre village in West Garo Hills’ Hallidayganj where the decomposed body was found.
