Manikchhari (Khagrachhari) Correspondent 

A joint patrol of the police and the army has recovered the half-decomposed body of madrasa student Md. Sohel 14) with his hands, feet and face tied from Budangpara in Manikchhari upazila of Khagrachari 12 days after the kidnapping.

His body was recovered from a ditch in the remote Budangpara area of Chadurkhil ward of Batnatli union of the upazila on Wednesday afternoon. The deceased Sohel is the only son of Rabeya Akhter and Abdul Jalil, the eldest daughter of Abdul Rahim, a resident of Chadurkhil area, and a 7th grade student of Shahanshah Haque Bhandari Sunnia Dakhil Madrasa established in Gorkhana.

According to police and eyewitness sources, local farmer Angyajai Marma found the body in a field next to his land in Budangpara after noon on Wednesday. Later, after informing the police, a joint patrol team of the police and the army recovered the body with his hands, feet and face tied.

Earlier, on the night of July 4, Md. Sohel (14) went missing on his way back to his home in the Chadurkhil area of Batnatli Union No. 2 under Manikchhari Upazila. Later, unknown persons called Sohel's maternal grandfather's number and demanded a ransom of Tk 5 lakh. After this incident, on July 11, Sohel's maternal grandfather Abdur Rahim Prakash Gafur filed an Ansar kidnapping case, naming five people for the crime of kidnapping and aiding in the extortion of ransom, and the joint force arrested three people involved in the incident with the help of technology.

The arrested are Sambu Kumar Tripura (36) of Kasmakarbari Para, and Md. Main Uddin (21) and Md. Yasin Mia (28) of Gorkhana area. During initial interrogation, the arrested admitted their involvement in the kidnapping but could not identify the abductee. They were sent to the learned court on Saturday (July 12) afternoon.

Sheikh Mahmudul Hasan Rubel, OC of Manikchhari Police Station, confirmed the truth of the incident and said, 'The body has been recovered. Appropriate legal proceedings are underway.