The Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) has raised questions over the police’s preliminary account of the killings of retired teacher Ganapati Chakraborty, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty and their two children, Agami and Ayush, in Rangpur.
The rights organisation said some questions and inconsistencies have emerged between the police account and information provided by the victims’ relatives, local residents and various media reports.
ASK has particularly called for clarification over a phone call made from Pritilata’s mobile phone to her sister, Puja Chakraborty, at 2:40am and its possible connection to the suspected time of the killings.
The observations were made in a press release issued Thursday, following a two-member ASK team’s fact-finding visit to Rangpur on August 24–25.
According to ASK, the four family members were reportedly killed on the night of August 20 in Machuapara area of Kamal Kachna in Rangpur city. The incident came to light on the night of August 22 after relatives raised the alarm. Police later recovered the bodies from the house.
Following the incident, law enforcement agencies arrested two people and gave a preliminary account of the possible motive and sequence of events. However, ASK said questions remain over some aspects of the police narrative.
Puja told the ASK team that she last spoke to her sister at around 11:30pm on August 20. The following day, she noticed that Pritilata’s phone had made a call to her at around 2:40am, which she missed.
Puja said her sister normally did not call her at such a late hour, making the call unusual.
ASK said the call warrants further investigation, particularly in light of the time of the killings cited by police.
Investigators should establish who made the call, how long it lasted, the phone’s location at the time and when the family members’ phones were switched off, it said.
The human rights organisation recommended analysing call detail records, mobile phone location data and other digital evidence to verify the sequence of events.
It also stressed the need to determine whether the timing of the call is consistent with the time of the killings given in the police account.
Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Mabud told the ASK representatives that the two arrested suspects, Siddhartha Das and Mugdha Das, had gone to the victims’ rooftop to consume yaba when Ganapati Chakraborty confronted them. Police suspect they then strangled the four family members one by one, fearing that their identities would be exposed.
Police also said the suspects allegedly ransacked the house after the killings to make it appear that a robbery had taken place and mislead investigators.
According to the police account, the suspects stayed at the house for some time after the killings, ate food and later left when the situation was favourable. Investigators identified them based on leads and evidence, and they later gave confessional statements before a court.
However, ASK said every key element of the police account should be independently verified against objective and material evidence.
The rights organisation said forensic evidence from the scene would be particularly important if the suspects had indeed stayed in the house, eaten there or taken a shower after the killings.
ASK said it should be clarified whether investigators collected and examined DNA, fingerprints, skin cells, hair and other biological or forensic evidence from different parts of the house, the bathroom, water sources, food containers, doors and windows, furniture and other surfaces.
It also said investigators should determine whether the forensic findings are consistent with the sequence of events outlined by police.
According to a fact-finding report by ASK, Puja Chakraborty said she called her sister’s phone shortly after 8pm on August 22 but found it switched off. After failing to reach other family members, she went to her sister’s house with her husband at around 9:15pm.
When there was no response from inside, they tried to enter the house with the help of neighbours. Police and Fire Service personnel later arrived, broke open the door and recovered the bodies of four family members from different parts of the house.
Puja said Ganapati Chakraborty’s body was found on the rooftop, while the bodies of Pritilata Chakraborty and Agami Chakraborty were found on the staircase leading from the second floor to the roof. Ayush Chakraborty’s body was found in a corner of a room. Furniture, clothes, jewellery and other belongings were found scattered around the house.
The ASK delegation spoke with Sanatan Chakraborty, deputy commissioner of the Detective Branch of Rangpur Metropolitan Police, who said investigators were examining various aspects of the incident and the available evidence. He also said misleading information was being circulated about the killings.
Police have suggested that the electricity supply may have been disconnected because the perpetrators feared their presence would be captured on CCTV.
ASK, however, said it was important to establish through scientific and technological evidence why and when the power was disconnected, who disconnected it and whether it was linked to the CCTV system or the killings.
Binoy Das, father of accused Siddhartha Das, expressed concern over his son’s arrest and raised questions about some details of the case, including his son’s clothes when he was taken into police custody. He called for a fair and impartial investigation.
Sena Rani Das, mother of arrested suspect Mugdha Das, also said she was unsure whether her son was involved in the killings and called for a proper investigation.
The ASK team also spoke with the parents of another suspect, Seemanta Chandra Das. They said Seemanta was at home on the night of the incident and that Siddhartha Das visited their house for some time that night but did not stay there overnight.
ASK said these statements should be verified against other information and evidence as part of the investigation.
The ASK delegation spoke with morgue in-charge Saheb Ali and Jatan Kumar, who was involved in the autopsy process.
Jatan said the bodies were in a decomposed condition and that he did not notice any marks indicating injuries from a sharp weapon. However, he said he noticed what appeared to be injuries on some parts of the bodies.
He also said he did not notice any signs of sexual assault on the bodies of the two women, although samples had been collected and sent for testing.
ASK said observations by a morgue worker could not be considered a conclusive medical opinion. It said formal autopsy, chemical and other forensic reports would be the appropriate basis for determining the cause of death, nature of injuries, possible sexual violence and method of killing.
AKM Nazmul Quader, officer-in-charge of Rangpur Kotwali Police Station, told the ASK delegation that Gopinath Chakraborty, elder brother of victim Ganapati Chakraborty, filed a murder case against unidentified persons. The two arrested suspects were later shown arrested in the case, while the investigation was subsequently transferred to the Detective Branch, he said.
The case was filed as Kotwali Police Station Case No. 43 on August 23, 2026.
ASK said the accused persons’ confessional statements would be assessed through the judicial process. However, it stressed that investigators should not rely solely on confessions to establish the full truth.
Instead, it called for greater reliance on independent and objective evidence, including digital data, CCTV footage, call detail records, DNA evidence and other forensic findings.
ASK said the killing of four members of the same family was an extremely brutal incident that had caused widespread public concern. It stressed the need for a comprehensive, impartial and professional investigation to establish the motive, sequence of events and identities of all those involved.
The rights organisation noted discrepancies between the police’s preliminary explanation and questions raised by the victims’ relatives, local residents and the media. It said these discrepancies should be resolved through scientific examination of physical, digital and forensic evidence.
ASK particularly called for a thorough investigation into a phone call allegedly made from Pritilata Chakraborty’s phone to her sister Puja at 2:40am.
It also urged investigators to establish when, how and by whom the electricity supply to the house was disconnected and whether the disconnection was linked to the CCTV system, the movements of the accused or the timing of the killings.
ASK said concerns raised by the victims’ relatives over the police’s preliminary explanation should not be dismissed as baseless or misleading, but should be examined as part of the investigation. At the same time, the police version should also be independently verified against objective evidence.
Overall, ASK’s preliminary fact-finding suggests that several key questions remain unanswered despite the arrests of two suspects and police claims of confessional statements. These include the motive, timeline and method of the killings and the suspects’ alleged activities after the incident.
ASK particularly stressed the need to determine whether forensic and digital evidence corroborates the unusual 2:40am phone call and the police claim that the suspects stayed at the house, ate food and took a shower after the killings.