Police in Rangpur have disclosed chilling details surrounding the brutal murder of a retired schoolteacher and three members of his family, revealing that the two arrested suspects lingered at the crime scene for hours to bathe, consume narcotics, and eat snacks before fleeing.
During a press briefing on Sunday, 23 August, Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammed Abdul Mabud shared the grim findings. The suspects, identified as 23-year-old Sri Mugdha alias Mugdha and 19-year-old Siddhartha Das, were apprehended earlier that morning in the Masuapara area. Both are cousins and local residents.
The tragedy came to light when authorities recovered the bodies of 65-year-old Ganapati Chakraborty Jewel—a retired teacher from Rangpur Zilla School—his 50-year-old wife Pritilata Chakraborty Vola, their 25-year-old daughter Proarthi Chakraborty, and their 12-year-old son Priyam Chakraborty from a locked house in Masuapara.
Escalation of Violence
Investigators revealed that the horrific series of events began late Thursday night when Mugdha and Siddhartha accessed the victim’s roof via an adjacent building to consume yaba tablets. When Ganapati Chakraborty went upstairs to investigate the disturbance, the suspects panicked and strangled him with his own towel to prevent their identities from being exposed.
Hearing the commotion, Pritilata rushed to the stairs and was similarly attacked. When Proarthi attempted to intervene, she too was overpowered. Forensic findings indicate that subduing the daughter required several minutes, with the attackers eventually using a rope around her face and neck.
The suspects then targeted 12-year-old Priyam on the ground floor. Because the child was friends with Siddhartha’s younger brother and knew the attackers, the pair decided to eliminate him to remove witnesses, suffocating him with a pillow after wrapping cloth around his neck.
Bizarre Post-Crime Routine
Rather than fleeing immediately, the two young men remained inside the home for an extended period. According to police, Siddhartha and Mugdha used the household bathroom to bathe on Friday morning. They subsequently sat at the dining table to eat dates and cucumbers taken from the refrigerator, alongside consuming more yaba tablets.
Physical evidence recovered from the scene corroborated their confessions, including date stones—which have been sent for DNA profiling—and a half-eaten cucumber. Investigators also noted that the killers attempted to stage a burglary by ransacking rooms and soaking mobile phones in detergent-laced water to obliterate fingerprints.
Investigation and Recovery
The suspects waited until Friday afternoon, fleeing during Jummah prayers when local streets were largely deserted. They took a stash of jewellery, which was later recovered from an abandoned spot behind a local temple based on their confessions.
Siddhartha, who had worked as a gold artisan for approximately eight years, possessed the expertise to test precious metals, a skill reflected in fire-tested items found at the scene. A formal case has been registered at Kotwali Police Station under sections 302 and 34 of the Penal Code. Authorities have confirmed that no evidence of sexual assault was found, and a thorough prosecution is being prepared.
