Rangpur 4 murders: Mugdha-Siddhartha questioned at jail gate

Detective Police (DB) has informed that no presence of drugs was found in the dope test samples of arrested Siddhartha Das and Mugdha Das in the case of the murder of four members of the family including retired teacher Ganapati Chakravarty at Machuapara in Rangpur city. Yet a large part of the description given by police right after the killings was about the two accused consuming yaba. Amid this new information, police have questioned the two accused at the jail gate instead of taking them on remand as per the court’s order.

Additional Commissioner of Rangpur Metropolitan Police Tofael Ahmed said a team of the case investigating officer and metropolitan detective police questioned Siddhartha and Mugdha for three hours at Rangpur Central Jail from Tuesday noon. A three-member team of the metropolitan police’s detective branch (DB)—case investigating officer and DB Inspector Zinnat Ali, SI Mominul Islam and SI Abu Sayeed Babla—went to the jail around 12pm.

Police had applied to the court for three days’ remand to question the two accused. However, considering the statements given by the two accused under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, appointment of a new investigating officer and the overall situation of the case, the court permitted questioning at the jail gate instead of granting remand. Judge of Rangpur Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court Md. Rafiqul Islam passed this order on Monday afternoon, stating that police will be able to question Siddhartha and Mugdha for three hours each day for two days.

Regarding the questioning that day, Deputy Commissioner of the metropolitan police’s detective branch Sanatan Chakravarty had said that although the two accused gave statements under section 164 in court, some more new information was later found in the investigation, and the remand application was made for the need to verify those information and further investigate the case.

However, this negative result of the dope test is directly contradictory to the description given by police at the beginning of the case. In the press conference of the then Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner after recovery of the bodies, it was said that the two accused had consumed 6-7 yaba sitting on the roof on the night of the incident, and under the influence of that intoxication they became violent and committed the murders. As no presence of drugs was found in the dope test, new questions have arisen about the reliability of that description.

The bodies of retired teacher Ganapati Chakravarty, his wife Pritilata Chakravarty, daughter Agami Chakravarty and son Priyam Chakravarty were recovered from their own house at Machuapara in Rangpur city on the night of August 22. Police later arrested Siddhartha Das and Mugdha Das in this sensational incident. Investigation activities are still continuing to verify the statements given by them in the case investigation, various exhibits and newly found information.