Teenager dies in drowning incident as family is scammed by extortionists during search
Photo Collected
CHITTAGONG — A 15-year-old student, whose body remained unidentified in a morgue for two days, died by drowning while his grieving family was simultaneously being extorted by criminals claiming to have kidnapped him.
The victim, Sayed Munif Ahmed Shan, was a ninth-grade student at Chittagong Modern School and the son of Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman of the Magdhara area in Sandwip. Shan went missing last Saturday after leaving his home in the Halishahar Chuna Factory area for private coaching. Police recovered his unidentified body from the Patenga Sea Beach area that same night.
For two days, the boy’s family searched for him, unaware that his remains were already in the Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue. During this period, an unidentified group contacted the family, falsely claiming to have kidnapped the teenager and demanding a ransom. Desperate to secure his release, the family transferred 60,000 BDT via the bKash mobile banking service to the extortionists.
The family only learned of Shan’s fate after seeing a photograph of the recovered body on social media. Following the identification, the family filed a case with the Halishahar Police Station, leading to the arrest of four of Shan’s friends.
Police investigation revealed that Shan had visited the Patenga Sea Beach with four friends after his coaching session. While they were in the water, Shan was swept away by a strong tide. Panicked by the accident, the four friends kept the incident secret for two days.
Patenga Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md. Parvez stated that the body was recovered as an unidentified corpse and sent to the morgue. The family confirmed the identity on Monday evening after spotting the police-posted photo on a Facebook page.
The victim’s uncle, Gofran Uddin, questioned the police procedure, asking why the recovery was not properly communicated to all stations, which might have prevented the family from falling victim to the extortion scheme. He noted that the family had filed a general diary immediately after Shan went missing and that the extortionists had directed them to the Sholashahar area before demanding the digital transfer.
Halishahar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kazi Muhammad Sultan Ahsan Uddin confirmed that the four friends have been taken into custody. He stated that the authorities are actively investigating the extortion claim, including the origin of the mobile money transfers linked to the Lohagara Upazila area.
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