They first got high on yaba at one house, then climbed over a rooftop into the next. Spotted by the homeowner, they murdered him one by one, along with three other members of his family. After a night of killing, they stayed in the same house until the following afternoon. Then, the two climbed back over the roof and fled.
That is the account given by Rangpur Metropolitan Police (RMP) of the killing of Ganapati Chakraborty, a retired teacher at Rangpur Zilla School, and his entire family. RMP Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Mabud disclosed the details Sunday morning after two suspects were arrested.
The two arrested are Mugdho Das, 23, of the Kamal Kachna Machhuapara area of the city, and his cousin’s son, Siddhartha Das, 19. Police say the two often used to gather at various under-construction buildings in the area to use yaba.
At a press conference called Sunday afternoon, the commissioner said retired Zilla School teacher Ganapati Chakraborty, 65, lived with his family in a two-story house in the Machhuapara area. Being from the same area, the accused knew the family. Mugdho and Siddhartha called Ganapati “sir” and his wife, Pritilata Chakraborty, “aunt.” Siddhartha’s younger brother used to play in the area with the couple’s younger child.
Ganapati’s house was under construction. Police say he and three other family members were killed there on the night of last Thursday. The bodies were recovered late Saturday night.
According to RMP’s account, Mugdho and Siddhartha used yaba at a house in the area Thursday night. They then climbed over the roof of the neighboring house onto the roof of Ganapati’s house, where they used yaba again and sat talking.
Hearing a noise on the roof, Ganapati went to check. He recognized the pair and tried to stop them from using drugs. Fearing their identities would be exposed, Mugdho and Siddhartha strangled him with a gamcha (a traditional cotton towel).
When Ganapati’s wife, Pritilata, came up to the roof after hearing the commotion, she was strangled on the stairs. The pair then went inside and strangled the couple’s daughter with rope. Finally, they smothered the couple’s sleeping younger child with a pillow.
After killing the entire family one by one, Mugdho and Siddhartha bathed that morning. They then ate dates and cucumbers, and used yaba again. Since Friday was the day of Jumu’ah prayers, the two waited until the streets grew quieter.
In the meantime, to make the killings look like a robbery, they ransacked the furniture. They also took some gold jewelry. Around noon, they climbed back onto the roof, crossed over to the neighboring roof and left. They later dumped the jewelry in an abandoned spot behind a local temple.
The RMP commissioner said the ransacked furniture at the scene initially made the incident look like a robbery. After seizing yaba and other evidence, however, an investigation led to the arrest of Mugdho and Siddhartha.
Based on information obtained during questioning, police recovered the gold jewelry from behind the temple. RMP said a case has been filed against the two at Kotwali police station.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report