2 to die for murder in Rajbari

A Rajbari court yesterday handed down death sentence to two people for killing schoolboy Rifat Hossain in 2013 in Rajbari district.

The convicts are Roktim Ranjan Sarker, 24, and Rony Sheikh Russel, 30, of T&T area of Rajbari town.

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According to the prosecution, a gang abducted Rifat Hossain, 11, a Class V student at Rajbari Kindergarten and son of Mukter Hossain, from Char Narayanpur under Sadar upazila of the district on November 6. Mukter is an expatriate in Bahrain.

The gang kidnapped Rifat while he was returning home from school at noon. The abductors phoned Rifat's family members the following day, demanding Tk 15 lakh as ransom. The family refused to give the money.

The gang killed the boy and dumped the body in a sewage-disposal tank owned by Rakhtim Ranjan Sarkar at T& T Para.

Police recovered the body on November 13.

Police arrested Rifat's cousin Kiam Uddin, 30, and Rony Sheikh, 24, of Char Narayanpur village, Ranjit Sarkar, 55, and Rakhtim Ranjan Sarkar.

After a long trial, Additional District and Sessions Judge Osman Haider sentenced Roktim Ranjan Sarker and Rony Sheikh Russel to death, while the others were acquitted.