Case filed against unidentified accused over Rangpur four murders

A case has been filed against unidentified accused over the killing of Ganapati Chakraborty, a former teacher of Rangpur Zilla School, along with three other members of his family, at Machhuapara in the Kamal Kachna area of Rangpur city.

Gopinath Chakraborty, elder brother of victim Ganapati Chakraborty, filed the case at Rangpur Kotwali Police Station on Sunday. The case did not name any accused or specify the number of accused.

The victims are Ganapati Chakraborty, 60, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty alias Bula, 50, daughter Agami Chakraborty alias Prarthi, 26, and son Ayush Chakraborty alias Priyom, 12.

According to the case statement, Ganapati's wife Pritilata spoke with her sister Puja Chakraborty over WhatsApp from her mobile phone around 11:30pm on August 20, after which the family members went to sleep. When Puja called her sister around 2:30am the next night, she could not reach her. When she called again on the morning of August 22, all four family members' phones were found switched off.

Finding the matter suspicious, Puja went to her sister's house with her husband on Saturday night. Finding the house dark and no response from inside, they informed the neighbours. They then went up to the roof, broke the window lock and looked inside, where they found the furniture in disarray, and a foul smell was also coming from inside the house.

The case statement further said unidentified individuals, acting in collusion, killed the four family members at some point between 2:40am on August 21 and 8:45am on August 22. It also noted that an attempt may have been made after the killings to make the incident look like something else.

Police, however, said the investigation has already made progress. A K M Nazmul Kader, officer-in-charge of Rangpur Kotwali Police Station, said Mugdho Das, 23, and Siddhartha Das, 19, both of Machhuapara village, were detained on suspicion of involvement in the killings, and both were later shown arrested.

According to police, Mugdho works at a fish shop in City Bazar, while Siddhartha has been working as a goldsmith at a jewellery establishment for about eight years.

Mohammad Abdul Mabud, commissioner of Rangpur Metropolitan Police, told a press conference on Sunday afternoon that Mugdho and Siddhartha climbed onto the roof of Ganapati Chakraborty's house from an adjacent building on Thursday night, where they were using yaba. When Ganapati went to the roof after hearing the noise and tried to stop them, they strangled him with a gamchha and killed him.

According to the police commissioner, when Ganapati's wife Pritilata heard him scream and tried to go up to the roof, she was killed on the stairs. Their daughter and 12-year-old son were then also killed. Police believe the victims knew the accused, and that the entire family was killed for fear that their identities would be revealed.