Rangpur quadruple murder: ASK sees inconsistencies in police explanation

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) has identified inconsistencies in the police explanation regarding the murder of retired teacher Ganapati Chakraborty and his family members in Rangpur, raising several questions about the incident.

A two-member ASK team visited Rangpur on August 24 and 25, speaking with the victims' relatives, neighbours, family members of the accused, police and intelligence officials, as well as morgue and hospital staff and local journalists. The organisation published its preliminary observations on Thursday.

ASK said that Puja Chakraborty, sister of the deceased Pritilata, told them her last conversation with Pritilata was around 11:30pm on August 20. However, the next day she saw on her mobile phone that a call was made to her from Pritilata's number at 2:40am, which she could not answer. Puja said Pritilata never usually called that late at night, making the call seem unusual. ASK stated that it is crucial to determine the connection between that call and the time of the murders described by police, and that Call Detail Records, mobile location and other digital evidence need to be analysed to verify who made the call, how long it lasted, where the mobile phone was located at that time, and when the family members' phones were switched off.

Police initially said that in the early morning, Siddhartha Das and Mugdha Das were consuming yaba on the rooftop of Ganapati Chakraborty's house, and when Ganapati tried to stop them, an argument ensued and he was killed, with other family members strangled one by one. The house was ransacked to create the illusion of a robbery. However, at a press conference on Thursday, outgoing Police Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Mabud changed the motive, stating that apart from being stopped from consuming yaba, Siddhartha may also have had dissatisfaction over land disputes with Ganapati Chakraborty's family. Citing Siddhartha's confessional statement, he said the Chakrabortys had purchased land from Siddhartha's ancestors, and although the land was bought at a relatively high price, Siddhartha's family co-sharers did not receive their dues. He also explained that the earlier account of the child being killed while sleeping was based on initial information, while the accused later told the court that the child had woke up and seen Siddhartha.

According to ASK, Puja Chakraborty had called her sister's number a little after 8pm on August 22 and found it switched off. Not finding other family members' phones on, she went to the house with her husband around 9:15pm. Police were informed, and police and fire service broke down the door and recovered the four bodies. Puja described that Ganapati's body was on the rooftop, Pritilata and Agami's on the stairs, and Ayush's in a corner of a room, with the house ransacked.

ASK noted that if the accused stayed in the house after the murders, forensic evidence such as DNA, fingerprints, skin cells, hair and other evidence should be present, and it needs to be clarified whether such evidence has been collected and tested from various parts of the house, bathrooms, water sources, food utensils, doors, windows and furniture.

The ASK team also spoke with morgue in-charge Saheb Ali and dom Joton Kumar, who said the bodies were in a decomposed state and he did not see marks of sharp weapon injuries, though some parts of the bodies appeared to have injury marks. He also said he did not see signs of sexual assault on the two female victims, though samples have been collected and sent for testing. ASK clarified that the morgue worker's observations are not the final medical opinion; the formal reports of autopsy, chemical tests and other forensic examinations are the reliable basis.

Siddhartha's father Binoy Das questioned his son's arrest and the incident, demanding a proper and impartial investigation, while Mugdha's mother Sena Rani Das also expressed uncertainty about whether her son was involved. The parents of suspect Simanto Chandra Das said Simanto was at home on the night of the incident, and although Siddhartha came to their house for some time, he did not stay there that night. ASK said these statements also need to be cross-checked with other information and evidence.

ASK emphasised that the most important question in this case is who made the 2:40am call from Pritilata's phone and what was actually happening in the family at that time, calling for integrated analysis of all material evidence, including digital forensics, call records, mobile location, CCTV and DNA.