An engineering student of a college near Asansol was allegedly abducted and killed by his friend in Birbhum’s Choupahari forest late on Saturday, after the latter made a failed attempt to get Rs 30 lakh as ransom.

The body of Syed Salauddin, 20, with his throat slit and other stab wounds, was found on Sunday morning at the forest. Accused Sheikh Salman, 22, was arrested a little later. Salauddin hailed from Khoirasol in Birbhum but his parents lived in nearby Mallarpur where his father Syed Abdul Matin ran a stone-crushing unit.

However, the second-year diploma engineering student regularly went to Khoirasol where his extended family stayed, especially on weekends. The accused, college dropout Sheikh Salman, also hails from Khoirasol. A police source said that Salman, who ran a brick kiln at Khoirasol’s Amodpur village, knew Salauddin and his family for many years. On Saturday, Salman apparently told Salauddin that they would both have dinner in Bolpur town, after which the duo bought liquor and went to Illambazar’s Choupahari forest.

At night, Salman made repeated phone calls to Salauddin’s family from the latter’s phone demanding a ransom of Rs 30 lakh, to which the family verbally acceded at first.

“The phone calls demanding ransom started coming late on Saturday night. All the calls were made from my nephew’s phone. We told police right away, and they began putting a trace (on the location). Unfortunately, we got his body near a forest in Choupahari,” said Syed Abdul Mayeen, the deceased’s uncle.

“We always knew Salman…. We are horrified to know he slaughtered our child.”Bereaved father Syed Abdul Matin said he asked Salman to let him interact with his son over the phone but was denied.“He asked me to take Rs 30 lakh within two hours near Illambazar forest if I wanted to get my son back alive. I think he had already killed my son by then,” said Matin.

Police officers at the spot where Salauddin was found murdered at Choupahari, Birbhum, on Sunday. Amarnath Dutta

By 2am, the number was found switched off, the father added.Neighbours in Amodpur on Sunday said they were “shocked”, but added that Salman was known to be involved in online gambling.

“We have a hunch that he was caught in a vicious debt trap,” said one of Salman’s neighbours.Salman was arrested from a place in Illambazar on Sunday when he was trying to flee. Birbhum police superintendent Nagendra Nath Tripathi said that initially Salman pointed to a few cut marks on his hands saying both he and Salauddin had been attacked by goons.

“But after interrogations, he confessed to murder and his intention of getting money to pay off debts,” said the SP. Asking if the accused was trapped in online gambling resulting in the debt, the SP said that cops were probing the angle.

“The accused confessed he was in a debt trap and as a result he planned to kidnap his friend but killed him,” he said.“Salman also confessed to carrying the knife and he forced Salauddin to drink a lot,” a police source said.Senior cops like IGP of Western range Sanjay Singh, DIG of Burdwan Alok Rajoria and others visited the murder spot and local Illambazar police station.