Key suspect of Parag abduction arrested

DHAKA/GAZIPUR, Nov 24, 2012 (BSS) - Plainclothes policemen in a predawn raid today eventually arrested the key suspect of Parag abduction Amir alias Langra Amir using gunshots apparently after a gunfight from Pilagachhi area of suburban Tongi.

"He was arrested in an injured condition as we had to use gunshots during the raid . . . we also arrested Amir's wife Beauty Begum and a housemaid, Ruby, from the house," assistant commissioner of detective branch Sanowar Hossain told BSS immediately after the incident.

Police and witnesses said Amir received injuries on the left side of his chest and left ear and was immediately rushed to Tongi Hospital where he also talked to a BSS correspondent along with few other reporters and tried to mislead them about his identity claiming he was not Amir.

He was later shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) to be treated under strong police vigil while doctors said his injuries were not fatal.

DB officials said they also recovered two foreign pistols and 85 bullets from his house, which Amir rented several days ago to live with his second wife Beauty.

The six-year-old Parag was abducted from near his house at Subhadya of Keraniganj while he was going to school when the kidnappers shot his mother, sister and their car driver and he was recovered two days later as the abductors left him in an unconscious state on the street side in the same area.

"We had recovered Parag through hostage negotiation but Amir remained beyond our reach . . . pressures were created on his relatives that eventually gave us the clues to his whereabouts," DB's deputy commissioner Monirul Islam told newsmen later at a press briefing at his office in Dhaka.

He said three policemen including an inspector were injured during the raid as Amir fired gunshots to evade his arrest.

Parag's father Bimal Mandal was also present at the briefing when he again declined that he ensured the safe return of his son paying an amount of Taka 5,000,000 as appeared in the media
earlier.

Meanwhile, several newsmen including a BSS correspondent talked to Amir's wife at the Tongi Police Station after her arrest when she told them Amir bought a piece of land at a cost of Taka 1,700,000 several days ago and got it registered on last Thursday.

She also told the newsmen that her husband also bought a new refrigerator, TV and furniture for the newly rented house where they were living for the past nine days.

Beauty admitted that she herself used to administer sedative injections to keep Parag asleep after his abduction.

Amir's arrest came two days after police arrested the driver of the motorbike which was used in the kidnapping while Amir was onboard the bike. Police earlier arrested two of Amir's "business partners" on charges of abetting him in the abduction.