Teenager kidnaps, kills child to buy phone

A 16-year-old boy has kidnapped and murdered a child for Tk 20,000 to buy a mobile phone in Nayekpara village of Debiganj upazila in Panchagarh.

The teenager owned up to the crime on Monday before Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Minhazur Rahman, said Debiganj police station Inspector (investigation) Md Shah Alom 

The accused was sent to the child ward of District Central Jail due to the Covid-19 outbreak, added the Inspector. 

The teenager abducted Mobasher Hasan, 5, son of Mohammad Alam on Friday and took him to his aunt's house in Bhodaburi area of Domar upazila where he killed him, said Panchagarh Superintendent of Police (SP) Yusuf.

The accused planned to demand Tk 20,000 from the child's family as ransom and buy a mobile phone with that money. But the child started to disturb him, he said. 

At one point, he strangled the child and then slaughtered him, the SP said. 

Police arrested the teenager on Saturday night and recovered the body of the child the next day from Dangapara in Domar upazila, he added.