An elderly woman died soon after learning that her son was killed allegedly by muggers for his battery-powered rickshaw in Kapasia upazila of Gazipur on Thursday night.

The deceased were identified as Ataur Rahman Ata, 50, and his mother Johura Khatun, of Batna village in the upazila, reports UNB.

Police said they recovered the body of Ata from Shimultali near Mirzanagar Girls' High School following a call through the national emergency national service 999 in the evening. The body bore marks of injury, apparently caused by a sharp weapon.

According to Ata's relatives, a group of alleged muggers hired his auto-rickshaw and took him to isolated Shimultali, where they killed him and fled with the vehicle.

Family members said Johura Khatun died shortly after being informed of her son's death around midnight. The deaths of the mother and son within hours of each other cast a pall of grief over the area.

Officer-in-Charge of Kapasia Police Station Mohammad Nasir Ahmed said they sent the body to the Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Police were investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing and working to identify those involved, he said, adding that legal proceedings were underway.