Kolkata: Student, kidnapped for ransom, found murdered; 2 people apprehended

Suspecting that the student was kidnapped by someone he knew, the police raided the residence of a local eatery owner and found the body inside a suitcase

A 19-year-old college student was found murdered inside a rented apartment on the outskirts of Kolkata allegedly by some of his acquaintances who had kidnapped him for ransom on Wednesday, the police said on Friday after arresting two of the suspects from Mahisbathan area.

Representational image.

Suspecting that the student, Sajid Hossain, was kidnapped by someone he knew, the police raided the residence of Gautam Singh, a local eatery owner and found the body inside a suitcase.

“The victim’s father Mokhtar Hussain lodged a police complaint on Thursday saying his son had gone missing and his phone was switched off. The kidnappers called up Hossain from his son’s phone around 9pm on Thursday and demanded ₹30 lakh as ransom,” an officer from New Town police station said on condition of anonymity.

The officer said that Sajid used to visit the eatery regularly and even attended parties at Singh’s home.

“Preliminary investigation indicates that he was strangulated. The body had been sent for postmortem. Singh and one of his associates, Pappu Ghosh, have been arrested. Raids are on to arrest four more suspects,” the officer added.

“We are not rich, but I bought an iPhone for my son because he wanted one. The kidnappers probably thought he came from a wealthy family,” Mukhtar Hossain told the media at New Town police station.