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Siliguri, Jan. 6: A 15-year-old boy went missing from Patiramjote near Matigara on Friday.
His family members, who have filed a police complaint, said they received a ransom call the same day and suspect that the boy has been abducted.
According to Gopal Sarkar, his son Dipankar, a Class X student at Jorethang Senior Secondary School, Sikkim, had left the house on Friday morning for private tuition.
The family is from Jorethang in Sikkim.
Sarkar’s ancestral house is in Pariramjote and they are here for the winters.
“Around 11.30am, my son left for Bagdogra for coaching classes. In the afternoon, while I was getting ready for work, I got a call in my cellphone from his mobile,” Sarkar, a goldsmith, said.
“The caller told me that my son had been abducted. He demanded a ransom of Rs 20 lakh but did not mention the place where the money had to be delivered or the time. He threatened me with dire consequences if I informed the police.”
Sources said Sarkar stays with his wife, a son and a daughter in Jorethang.
“During the winter, like many other families in the hills, they come down and stay in the ancestral house and leave in the autumn,” said a resident of the area.
Sarkar said he has not received any other ransom calls after Friday. “I got no other calls. I am concerned as the SIM card of the phone, which my son had taken with him, is also registered in my name. We have tried calling that number several times but it is switched off. The caller had said if I do not pay the ransom, they would kill my son.”
A police officer said: “We have learnt that the boy did not reach the coaching classes that day. Information regarding the cell phone’s location has been sought from the agencies concerned.”
O.G. Pal, the deputy commissioner of Siliguri Metropolitan Police, said: “Our officers are collecting all possible information. All police stations have been alerted with the boy’s description and photo.”
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