Hindu priest, law student kidnapped, tortured for ransom in Dhaka

A 25-year-old Hindu priest and law student was allegedly kidnapped, held captive overnight, tortured and forced to extort money from his family before being dumped on a roadside in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, according to a report by bdnews24.com.

The man, identified as Subhash Deuri, was admitted to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Tuesday with serious injuries after friends found him lying on a road in the city's Narinda area early in the morning, bdnews24.com reported.

According to his family, Deuri is a student at Dhaka Central Law College and has been serving as an assistant priest at the central temple of Jagannath University for the past several months, where he performed daily religious rituals.

His sister, Jaya Deuri, alleged that unidentified men kidnapped him on Monday night, tortured him for hours, robbed him of his belongings and forced him to call relatives and friends to demand money.

"Around 2.30 am, my brother called me, crying, and begged me to send money. He said they would kill him if I didn't," Jaya told bdnews24.com.

She said an unknown man had earlier answered her call and demanded Tk 30,000 for her brother's release. After arranging funds, the family transferred Tk 26,000 to a phone number provided by one of the alleged abductors, following which they lost contact with him.

Deuri's roommate, Durjoy Saha, said he returned to their rented apartment in Wari around 9.30pm but did not find his friend. Later that night, he received a call from Deuri's phone asking him to send money.

"Around 5.30 am we found Subhash lying injured on the road in front of Agrani Bank. His head, hands and legs were badly injured. His mobile phone and wallet were missing," Saha was quoted as saying.

Saha said that despite his critical condition, Deuri managed to recount his ordeal.

"He said he was physically and mentally tortured from around 10 pm until 4 am. The attackers stripped him naked, recorded videos of him and blackmailed him into asking his family for money. They threatened to upload the videos on social media if he failed to pay," Saha alleged.

According to bdnews24.com, Deuri's ancestral home is in Sreepur Upazila of Magura district. He had been living in a rented apartment in Dhaka's Narinda area with Saha.

Mohammad Faruk, chief of the police outpost at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, confirmed that Deuri was admitted to the hospital's emergency department in critical condition and is undergoing treatment.

Mofizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Wari Police Station, said police had begun investigating the incident after learning about it but were still gathering details, the report said.