Teacher, Family Slain: Perpetrators stayed at the scene until the next afternoon
Mugdha and Siddhartha, the accused arrested over murder of Ganapati—a retired teacher of Rangpur Zilla School—and his wife and children. Photo: Collected.
First, they took Yaba (methamphetamine) at one house, then climbed over the rooftop to reach the roof of another house. When the homeowner spotted them, they killed him along with three other family members, one by one. After the night-long killings, they stayed in that house until noon the next day. Then they climbed over the roof again and fled.
Rangpur Metropolitan Police (RMP) provided this account of the murder of retired schoolteacher Ganapati Chakraborty of Rangpur Zilla School and his entire family. RMP Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Mabud disclosed these details today (Sunday) morning after the arrest of two suspects in the early hours.
The arrestees are: Mughdha Das (23) and his cousin's son Siddhartha Das (19), from the Kamal Kachna Machhuapara area of the city. Police said they frequently consumed Yaba while sitting in various under-construction buildings in the vicinity.
Speaking at a press conference held on Sunday afternoon, the commissioner said that retired teacher Ganapati Chakraborty (65) lived with his family in a two-storey house in the Machhuapara area. Since they lived in the same locality, the suspects were familiar with the family. Mughdha and Siddhartha addressed Ganapati as "Sir" and his wife Pritilata Chakraborty as "Aunty." Their younger son Priyam used to play in the area with Siddhartha's younger brother.
Ganapati's house was under construction. Police said the four members of the family were killed in that house around midnight last Thursday. Their bodies were recovered last Saturday midnight.
According to the RMP account, on Thursday night, Mughdha and Siddhartha consumed Yaba at a house in the area. Then they climbed over the roof of the neighbouring house and came to Ganapati's rooftop. There they consumed another round of Yaba and were hanging out.
Hearing noise on the roof, Ganapati went up to check. He recognised the two and tried to stop them from taking drugs. Fearing that their identities would be exposed, Mughdha and Siddhartha strangled him by wrapping a towel around his neck.
When Pritilata heard the commotion and went up the stairs, she was strangled to death on the staircase. Then they entered the room and strangled the couple's daughter, Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, with a rope. Finally, they smothered the sleeping youngest son, Ayush Chakraborty Priyam, with a pillow.
After killing them one by one, the two washed up in the morning. They then ate dates and cucumbers and took another round of Yaba. Since Friday was a Jummah (Friday prayer) day, they waited until the streets were empty of people.
In the meantime, they ransacked the furniture to make the incident look like a robbery. They also took some gold ornaments. Around noon, they climbed back to the roof, crossed over to the neighbouring house's roof, and fled. They dumped the gold ornaments in an abandoned spot behind a local temple.
The RMP commissioner said that due to the ransacked furniture at the scene, it was initially thought to be a robbery. Later, after recovering several pieces of evidence, including Yaba, and investigating, Mughdha and Siddhartha were arrested.
Based on information obtained during interrogation, police recovered the gold ornaments from behind the temple. The RMP said that a case has been filed against the two at Kotwali Police Station.
