24/08/2026
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24/08/2026
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DHAKA, Aug 24: Police in Bangladesh are investigating two separate murder cases involving the deaths of five people, including a family of four in Rangpur and a woman and her one-year-old son in Madaripur.
In Rangpur, police have detained two men in connection with the killing of a family of four whose bodies were found inside their locked home on Saturday.
The victims were identified as 65-year-old former teacher Ganapati Chakraborty, his 50-year-old wife Pritilata, their 23-year-old daughter Agami Chakraborty Prathi and their 12-year-old son Priyam.
Police said the victims’ faces had been burned with a flammable substance. The two detained suspects were identified as 19-year-old Siddhartha Das and 23-year-old Mugdha Das, who police described as maternal cousins and neighbours of the family.
According to investigators, the suspects allegedly climbed onto the roof of the family’s two-storey home in the Machuapara area late Thursday night to consume yaba, a methamphetamine-based drug.
Police said Ganapati went upstairs after hearing a noise and was allegedly strangled with a towel. His wife reportedly followed him and was killed on the stairs.
Investigators said the couple’s daughter came out of her room after hearing the commotion and was allegedly strangled with a rope following a struggle. Police believe the 12-year-old boy was also killed because the suspects feared he could identify them.
Rangpur Police Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Mabud said the suspects allegedly remained inside the house throughout the night before leaving on Friday during Juma prayers, when there were fewer people on the streets.
Police said the suspects allegedly bathed inside the house, ate dates and cucumbers from the refrigerator and consumed drugs they found there. Before leaving, they allegedly ransacked wardrobes and drawers, stole gold jewellery and placed two of the victims’ mobile phones in water mixed with detergent in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence.
Investigators said the stolen jewellery has been recovered and DNA testing is being conducted on date seeds found at the scene. Police also said the two suspects had confessed to the killings.
Mother and one-year-old son killed in separate case
In another case in Madaripur, police recovered the body of a one-year-old boy from the Arial Khan River, five days after his mother was allegedly raped and murdered.
The child, identified as Abir, was reportedly killed after the death of his mother, 28-year-old Shampa Khatun, and his body was allegedly thrown into the river.
Police recovered the child’s body on Monday morning after local residents reported seeing it floating near Madrasa Ghat at the Mannan Hajir intersection in the Nilkhi area of Shibchar.
Shibchar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kamal Hossain said police and naval police recovered the body after receiving the information. The body was sent to Madaripur Sadar Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
Shampa’s body had been recovered on August 19 from a bush in the Bakharerkandi area of Madbarchar Union in Shibchar.
According to police and local sources, Shampa was originally from Natore and had been married to Md Shahabuddin Howlader of Madaripur for around three years. The couple had a one-year-old son, Abir.
Shampa’s father, Chamrul Islam, filed a murder case with Shibchar police on August 20.
During the investigation, police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-8) jointly launched an operation using information technology and arrested a man identified as Faruk Molla.
Police said Molla confessed during interrogation to raping and killing Shampa. Investigators said he also confessed to killing her son and throwing the child’s body into the Arial Khan River.
Police had been conducting searches in the river since the incident in an effort to locate the missing child.
The two cases have drawn attention to a series of violent crimes in Bangladesh, with investigators continuing to gather forensic evidence and question suspects as they work to establish the full circumstances surrounding the killings.
