Police suspect child Zayan killed to frame neighbor

After the body of five-year-old Zayan was recovered in Patiya, Chattogram and three people, including a young woman, were arrested, the police say that the child may have been killed to frame a neighboring family.

Police said that the arrested woman's family had a land dispute with another neighboring family. It is initially believed that the murder was committed as a plan to frame the opponent due to that dispute.

The three arrested are Sadia Sultana Niha, 19, her father Md. Saifuddin, 39, and mother Shahnur Akhter, 35. Niha is a Higher Secondary (HSC) examinee this year. Her father is a mason by profession.

Five-year-old Zayan went missing from in front of his house in the South Gobindrakhil area of ​​Patiya Municipality on Tuesday afternoon. He is the son of Shahjahan, a garage owner in the area. After the disappearance, a handwritten note was sent to the child's family demanding ransom.

Later, the police recovered Zayan's body around 3am on Wednesday.

At a press conference held at his office on Thursday afternoon, Chattogram District Police Superintendent Masud Alam said that the arrested Niha was Zayan's neighbor's aunt. On the day of the incident, she was playing football with the child. At one point, she was taken to her house and killed.

The police superintendent said that after the murder, the body was stuffed into two sacks and dumped in a pile of garbage behind the house in an attempt to hide it and covered it.

He also said that Niha, her parents and brother were taken to the police station for questioning on Wednesday. At one point, Niha confessed to the murder.

Masud Alam said that the child was killed within about an hour and a half of the kidnapping. We believe that Niha's parents also knew about the child's death, but they hid it. Based on the information provided by Nihar, the body was recovered from a pile of garbage behind their house.

How the mystery was solved
The Superintendent of Police said that initially the incident was almost 'clueless'. However, the investigation progressed based on the ransom note.

He said that searches were conducted in several houses based on the pad used in the note. At one stage, a similar pad and sample of the note were recovered from Nihar's house. Later, when her handwriting was compared with the note, it was found to be completely identical.

During the initial interrogation, Nihar claimed that she had written the note at the request of a neighbor. Later, when the person was arrested and interrogated face to face, no evidence of his involvement was found. At that time, Nihar herself confessed to writing the note and the murder.

Zayan's father, Shahjahan, said that after his son went missing on Tuesday afternoon, he received a note demanding a ransom of Tk 3 lakh around 3:30pm. Unable to find her son until evening, she filed a general diary (GD) at Patiya police station that night.

The note also threatened to kill the child if the money was not paid or if the police were informed.

Patiya police station officer-in-charge (OC) Ziaul Haque said, "Zayan was killed shortly after the kidnapping. We believe that after the murder, Niha herself went to the child's house and left the ransom note."

He also said, "Initial investigation suggests that the murder was committed to frame a neighbor. Because Niha mentioned the name of that person during interrogation. However, later investigation did not find any evidence of his involvement."