Police have revealed new details about the killing of four members of a family in Rangpur city, saying the murders stemmed from the victims’ objection to two men consuming yaba on the rooftop.
According to police, the suspects allegedly took a shower inside the house after the killings, consumed dates and the remaining yaba, and later ransacked the residence to make the incident appear to be a robbery.
Locals alerted police at around 10pm on Saturday after detecting a foul smell coming from inside the house. Police later broke open the lock of the residence in Machuapara and recovered the bodies of a retired teacher of Rangpur Zilla School, his wife, son and daughter.
The deceased were identified as Ganapati Chakraborty Jewel, 65, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty Bhola, 50, their daughter Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, 25, a postgraduate student, and their son Ayush Chakraborty Priyam, 12, a Class Five pupil.
Police arrested two suspects in connection with the killings — Mugdha Das, 23, son of Kanudas of Machuapara, and Siddhartha Das, 19, son of Binay Chandra Das of the same area.
Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Abdul Mabud disclosed the details at a press briefing at his office on Sunday afternoon.
According to the police commissioner, Mugdha and Siddhartha went to the rooftop of a neighbouring building late Thursday night to consume yaba.
Hearing a noise, Ganapati Chakraborty went to the rooftop and questioned them about their gathering. The suspects allegedly strangled him with a gamcha to conceal their identities, the commissioner said.
Hearing Ganapati’s cries, his wife Pritilata came upstairs and was also allegedly strangled with a gamcha. Their daughter Prarthi then came forward after hearing her mother’s cries and was allegedly killed using a gamcha and rope.
According to the suspects’ statements to police, Prarthi remained alive for around four to five minutes. The suspects allegedly held a rope around her neck and face before she died.
They then allegedly killed 12-year-old Priyam while he was asleep using a piece of cloth and a pillow.
The police commissioner said the suspects deliberately scattered household belongings to divert the investigation and make police believe that the family had been killed during a robbery.
They also allegedly soaked two mobile phones from the house in water mixed with detergent in an attempt to remove fingerprints and other potential evidence.
After the killings, the suspects allegedly took a shower in one of the house’s bathrooms. They then sat at the dining table, ate dates and consumed the remaining yaba.
Later, during Friday prayers, when the streets were relatively deserted, they allegedly took some gold ornaments from the house and left. They subsequently hid the ornaments in an abandoned area behind a nearby temple.
Police said the ornaments and other evidence were recovered based on information provided by the suspects.
The bodies of Ganapati Chakraborty Jewel, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty Bhola, daughter Agami Chakraborty Prarthi and son Ayush Chakraborty Priyam were recovered from their residence in Machuapara at around 11pm on Saturday.
FP/A
