A civil society group has demanded a judicial investigation into the murder of a Hindu family in Rangpur. The call deepens scrutiny of conflicting police statements and unanswered forensic questions.
A civil society group in Bangladesh on Saturday demanded a judicial investigation into the murder of a Hindu family in Rangpur, saying police explanations about the killings had raised public doubts. The demand from the Rangpur City Civic Society (RCCS) came two days after rights group Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) and the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council also questioned the police account.
The decomposed bodies of retired school teacher Ganapati Chakraborty, 65, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty, 50, and their children Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, 23, and Priyam Chakraborty, 12, were found on August 22 in their locked home in northwestern Rangpur. Police detained two cousins, Mughdho and Siddhartha, for their alleged involvement in the killings.
In a statement read out at a press conference, the RCCS said, “The police comments in the media over the murders of all four members of the family after the arrest of two suspects created skepticism and questions in the public mind reflecting their lack of confidence on police actions.” The group said it had identified 19 questions over two later police statements, which it said contradicted comments by the slain family’s relatives, the circumstances at the crime scene and forensic experts.
ASK raised similar questions and said the scepticism should not be dismissed as baseless or misleading. “It is crucial to clarify if any forensic and digital evidence was found which is consistent with the police claims regarding the motive, timeline, and method of the killings, the unusual phone call at 2:40 am, and the suspects’ presence,” the group said on Thursday. A leader of the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said, “We are watching the developments. But it remains a big question how two alleged drug addicts could kill four people and give the house a look of a robbery scene in such a meticulous manner.”
The RCCS said police, in their first briefing on August 23, had said Chakraborty was killed on the rooftop of his house, while his wife and daughter were killed on a second-floor staircase and his son was killed in his sleep inside the house. In a second briefing on August 27, the police changed the account and said the teacher, his wife and his daughter were all killed on the open rooftop. Rangpur Commissioner Abdul Mabud said the bodies of the mother and daughter were then moved to the staircase inside the rooftop gate to hide them from neighbouring houses. He also said the arrested men had entered the rooftop through a neighbouring building and had taken yaba there on Thursday night.
Questioning that version, RCCS member-secretary Palash Kanti Nag told the press conference, “It needs to be investigated how normal it is for four members of a family to be murdered only for trying to prevent Yaba (drug) consumption.” The fresh demand for a judicial probe summed up the concerns raised by civil society and rights groups over the police narrative in the Rangpur family murder case.
