A person has been released without ransom after five hours of being kidnapped in Karnaphuli Upazila of Chittagong. His name is Shahidul Alam (32). The incident took place in front of Ichanagar Government Primary School in Charpatharghata Union of the upazila around 11 pm on Wednesday.

Shahidul Alam is a resident of Ichanagar and a fish trader. After being released, he said that he thinks his opponents might have done this because of his business conflicts in the area.

Shahidul Alam, who was released, told the media, “The people in the autorickshaw introduced themselves as activists of the Metropolitan Anti-Discrimination Movement. The autorickshaw took me to different places in the city. Later, I was handed over to another group. They checked my Facebook ID to verify whether I had posted anything against the anti-discrimination movement. Not finding anything on the Facebook ID, they first demanded five lakh taka and later three lakh taka. I asked them to give me my bKash number for the money and wanted to contact my family. At that time, they dropped me off in a rickshaw without taking any money.’

Karnaphuli Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Muhammad Sharif told Prothom Alo that after the incident, the criminal gang was forced to release Shahidul due to the joint efforts of Kotwali Police Station and Karnaphuli Police Station. Work is underway to identify the criminals.