Abhisekh Kumar Shaw

An 11-year-old boy, who was allegedly kidnapped on Saturday while returning home from school, was back at his Kalighat residence on Sunday afternoon amid rumours that the family had paid a ransom of Rs 50,000.

Officers of the detective department of the city police took Abhisekh Kumar Shaw, a Class V student of Adarsha Hindi Vidya Mandir in Bhowanipore, for examination. “This does not look like an open-and-shut case. We have brought him to Lalbazar and he is being interrogated. No arrest has been made,” an investigating officer said.

Although members of the Shaw family claimed Rs 50,000 was paid to the abductors, the investigating officers refused to confirm whether any money had changed hands for the boy’s release.

His father, Brojbihari Shaw, a durwan, works with a private firm on DL Khan Road. More than 24 hours after he went missing, the boy nicknamed Gullu, was seen loitering around his home on Sunday afternoon when some youths spotted him and took him to his parents.

“His return is as mysterious as his disappearance. A probe is on to ascertain whether the family paid any ransom for his release,” the officer added. “We are also probing whether this was the fall-out of personal enmity,” the officer added.

According to a complaint lodged with Bhowanipore police station, the boy went missing while he was returning home at 7/3 Sashi Sekhar Bose Road in Kalighat around 1pm on Saturday. Family members had lodged a complaint with the police that they received a ransom call around 4pm on Saturday. Gullu’s elder sister Sarita received the call.

“We will soon examine the family members, including the father. So far we have not found any concrete evidence of abduction,” another officer said.