A year after Suraj Mahaldar, a resident of Shamsergunj in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, had won Rs 26 lakh in a lottery as prize money, his son (7) was killed for a Rs 2-lakh ransom on Sunday.
The body of Raihan Mahaldar was found inside a mango orchard on Sunday evening, not far from his home.
Raihan was last seen at around 11 am, when he was playing with some other children outside his home, according to his family members.
The police have detained two men for questioning on Monday morning amid tension in the area over the infant’s murder.
Suraj said, “I had left home for some work on Sunday morning. When I returned at around 12:30 pm I could not find Raihan even though we searched from him everywhere.”
Around 2:10 pm, Suraj received a phone call from an unknown person, who used abusive language and demanded Rs 2 lakh for releasing Raihan.
Initially, the caller told Suraj that he would find his son alive near an agriculture field.
Within a few minutes, he called again and said the child would be released near the local Moregram bridge.
The family members informed the Shamsergunj police station but the child’s body was found before the culprits could be traced.
It is suspected that Raihan was killed before the ransom call was made.
Suraj had won Rs 26 lakh in a lottery as prize money a year ago, but two more men allegedly took the lion’s share.
Later, some village elders brokered a deal and Suraj got more money from the other two claimants.
The police are probing the dispute over the lottery prize money and are trying to connect to dots with Raihan’s murder.
Amit Bhakat, officer-in-charge of Shamserganj police station, said, “We have received a written complaint and a murder case has been registered. A probe has started.”
