The bodies of a retired schoolteacher, his wife, daughter and son, who were found murdered at their home in Rangpur city’s Daspara-Machhuapara area, were cremated at Dakhiganj crematorium on Sunday evening.
The bodies were handed over to the victims’ relatives at around 7:00pm after autopsies at Rangpur Medical College Hospital.
Puja Chakraborty, younger sister of Pritilata Chakraborty, the wife of slain former schoolteacher Ganapati Chakraborty, said, “When we received the bodies in the evening, we found that their faces had been burned. Earlier, police did not allow us to go near the bodies.”
“This was a planned murder,” she alleged.
Sumit Chowdhury, acting superintendent of police of CID Rangpur, told The Daily Star, “The killers appear to have poured a flammable substance on the victims’ faces either before or after killing them. At this stage, we cannot say what substance was used. The investigating officer will collect samples and send them to the CID forensic department for examination. We will know more once the test results are available.”
Police recovered the bodies of Ganapati Chakraborty, 65; his wife, Pritilata Chakraborty, 50; their daughter, Agami Chakraborty, 23; and son, Priyom Chakraborty, 12, from their locked house around 11:00pm last night.
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Neighbours gather in front of the house of the slain family. Photo: S Dilip Roy/Star
The bodies were taken to the Rangpur Medical College Hospital morgue early today for autopsies.
Police have arrested two young men in connection with the incident early today. Gopinath Chakraborty, elder brother of Ganapati, filed a murder case with Kotwali Police Station this afternoon.
The arrestees were identified as Siddhartho Das, 19, and Mugdho Das, 21, both from the same area. Siddhartho runs a fish business at Rangpur City Bazar, while Mugdho works as a goldsmith. Police said both were drug users.
Ganapati, originally from Mirzapur village in Rangpur’s Mithapukur upazila, retired from Rangpur Zilla School on December 31 last year, where he had taught Hindu religious studies.
His daughter, Agami, completed her master’s degree from Carmichael College in Rangpur this year, while his son, Priyam, was a class 5 student at Rangpur Zilla School.
The family had been living in their own house in Daspara-Machhuapara for the past four years.
“Ganapati withdrew Tk 15 lakh from his provident fund about a month ago as he planned to resume construction on the unfinished portion of his house. I cannot say whether he kept the money in a bank or at home,” said Abul Kalam Azad, headteacher of Rangpur Zilla School.
Gopinath Chakraborty, Ganapati’s elder brother and the complainant in the case, said, “The information about the money can be verified with the bank. We have not been able to do that yet.”
He alleged that police had not informed the family that the victims’ faces had been burned with a flammable substance. “We only discovered it after receiving the bodies. My brother and his family were killed in a very painful and brutal manner,” he said.
Nazmul Quader, officer-in-charge of Rangpur Kotwali Police Station, said, “Samples have been collected. Preparations are underway to send those to the CID forensic department for examination.”
