Salauddin's father claimed that he received seven calls on Saturday demanding money after which he approached police. “Probe is on. We are trying to find out who else were involved with Salman in this murder,” the SP added.After a 22-year-old engineering student, who had gone missing on Saturday, was found dead in a forest in Chaupahari area in Birbhum district, police arrested his friend on charges of murder and abduction.
According to police, Syed Salauddin, the son of a businessman in Illambazar, was abducted by his friend, Sheikh Salman, for money and then killed.
“Sheikh Salman has confessed to the crime. It was a pre-planned murder. Salman had taken loans from banks as well as private lenders and was failing to repay them. Salman and Salauddin were childhood friends. So Salman planned to kidnap his friend for ransom” Birbhum SP Nagendra Nath Tripathi said.
According to a police officer involved in the probe, Salman bought alcohol and went to the Chaupahari forest with Salauddin. When Salahuddin became unconscious after drinking a lot of alcohol, Salman took his mobile phone and called his father and demanded Rs 30 lakh as ransom, a police officer said.
Police said that Salauddin’s father claimed that he received seven calls on Saturday demanding money.
After receiving the calls, the businessman complained to the police. Police traced the mobile phone tower location of the caller from Chaupahari forest area. Three police teams started searching the forest area and found Salauddin’s body with his throat slit on Sunday morning.
“Our investigation is on. We are trying to find out who else were involved with Salman in this murder. Police will take the accused to the spot to reconstruct the crime,” the SP added.
According to police, they detained Salman initially on suspicion. “He tried to cook stories saying that he and Salahuddin were attacked by miscreants. But his statements were contradictory, and we continued to question him. During interrogation, he confessed that he killed Salauddin by slitting his throat with a knife,” the SP added.
Meanwhile, Salman’s mother claimed that his son was innocent. “Salauddin and Salman are very good friends. Salman can never do this to him. On Saturday, he left home to attend a wedding. From there, where did he go, I don’t know. But I am sure that my son can never kill anyone, forget about killing his own friend,” Salman’s mother Papia Bibi said.