Rangpur 4-murder: Police allegedly destroy evidence

Police have been accused of destroying evidence in connection with the murder of retired teacher Ganapati Chakraborty, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty, their daughter Agami Chakraborty Prarthi and son Ayush Chakraborty Priyam in the Kamalkachna Machuapara (Daspara) area of Rangpur Metropolitan City.

Police cordoned off the house after recovering the bodies of the four victims on the night of Saturday (22 August).

According to allegations, all the lights in the house suddenly went out on Wednesday (26 August) evening, while the water pump was switched on. Water then began pouring from the roof.

It has been alleged that the police used water to destroy evidence related to the killings.

Partha Chandra Das, elder brother of Siddhartha Chandra Das, who was arrested in connection with the killings, said the incident was not limited to the use of water. He said several police officers entered Ganapati Chakraborty's house at around 1am on Tuesday (25 August) and later took away some items in several bags.

He further said there could be a major reason behind the killings and that the police were trying to cover it up.

Partha Chandra Das alleged that water had been used on the day to destroy evidence. He also claimed that, earlier, police had taken away some items from the house in several bags late at night.

When asked about the allegation of evidence being destroyed, Rangpur Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (Detective Branch) Sanatan Chakraborty told Views Bangladesh that the allegation made by Siddhartha's family was not true. He said such allegations were being made to mislead them and would serve no purpose. All evidence related to the killings remains in police custody, he added.

He further said, “Our police personnel themselves switched on the water pump. The tank filled up and water flowed through the pipes.”

However, local residents said the water had not flowed through the tank's pipes. Rather, they said, it had poured from the roof in a steady stream, just as rainwater would fall from a roof.

Meanwhile, police said that Mugdha Das and Siddhartha Chandra Das, who were arrested in connection with the killings, had made confessional statements before a court under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

According to police, the two young men strangled the four victims to death after they were prevented from taking yaba.

However, Ganapati Chakraborty's brother Gopinath Chakraborty rejected the police account.

He said, “Two young men could never have killed four people. The police's account is not credible. We will not get justice in this case. The police wrote the First Information Report (FIR), and I only signed it. I do not know what was written there. A major group is behind the killings. They were killed after the electricity connection to the house was cut off.”

Earlier, at around 11pm on 22 August, police recovered the bodies of the four victims from Ganapati Chakraborty's house in the Kamalkachna Machuapara (Daspara) area.

Police said they were killed at around 6am on Friday (21 August).

Ganapati Chakraborty worked as a homoeopathic practitioner after retiring from teaching.

Two local shopkeepers said they saw Ganapati at Daspara intersection at around 11am on Thursday (20 August).

Another shopkeeper said Ganapati bought and ate betel leaf from his shop at around 4pm that day. He appeared extremely worried at the time, the shopkeeper said, adding that Ganapati's behaviour seemed unusual.