Members of the Special Response Battalion (SRB) have arrested the alleged ringleader of a gang involved in the abduction of six-year-old Bayazid.
The suspect has been identified as Tohura Banu Lipi, 45. A joint team of SRB-4 and SRB-1 arrested her.
SRB-4 disclosed the information in a press release on Thursday.
Lipi was arrested on Tuesday night during an operation at a residence in Kha Para, under Tongi West Police Station in Gazipur.
According to SRB-4, Bayazid was kidnapped from his residence in Duaripara, Rupnagar, Dhaka, on 18 September. Investigators reviewing CCTV footage found that the child was taken to a clinic about 1.5 kilometres away before Lipi and another woman, Nasrin, were seen taking him away.
During preliminary interrogation, Lipi reportedly admitted that the gang abducted the boy to sell him to childless couples. They could not sell him because he was considered too old. Following Lipi’s advice, Nasrin later moved the boy to another location.
As law enforcement stepped up operations and news of the kidnapping spread on social media, Nasrin and Lipi abandoned the child on a street in Tongi and fled. SRB-4 later rescued Bayazid and handed him over to his family.
Police also arrested another individual, identified as Kulsum, in connection with the kidnapping ring.
The joint team tracked Lipi to Kha-para using information technology and intelligence data and arrested her. She was later handed over to the relevant police station for legal action. Drives are underway to arrest the remaining members of the gang, SRB said.
