A Rangpur court on Monday rejected a police plea seeking a three-day remand of two accused in a quadruple murder case, instead allowing investigators to question them at the jail gate for two days, three hours each day.
Rangpur Metropolitan Magistrate Rafiqul Islam passed the order after a hearing in the afternoon.
Jinnat Ali, officer-in-charge of the Metropolitan Detective Branch (DB) and the investigating officer, had sought the remand to question the accused about possible involvement of others in the killings and gather further information about the incident.
The two accused — Siddhartha Das and Mugdho Das — are currently in jail custody in connection with the case.
The court said the accused had already given confessional statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure following their arrest, admitting their involvement in the killings.
It, therefore, found no grounds for further remand but allowed police to question them at the jail gate for two days.
Jinnat Ali declined to comment to reporters after the hearing, asking them to contact senior officials.
The case stems from the killing of schoolteacher Ganapati Chakraborty, his wife Pritilata, daughter and son in the Masuapara area of Rangpur city.
Meanwhile, relatives of the victims have raised concerns after learning that dope test reports for the two accused came back negative.
Gopinath Chakraborty, elder brother of Ganapati and the plaintiff in the case, along with Puja Chakraborty, sister of Pritilata, and other relatives met Deputy Commissioner of Police (DB) Sanatan Chakraborty at the Rangpur Metropolitan DB office on Monday afternoon to convey their concerns.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Gopinath questioned why the dope tests were conducted eight days after the arrests.
“The dope test should have been conducted right after the arrests. Don’t they know that drug traces don’t show up in urine after a few days? What was the point of testing eight days later? I’ve heard Rangpur Medical College doesn’t test hair or other body samples, only urine,” he said.
Gopinath said he still expected a fair outcome through a proper investigation.
Puja and another relative also called for further investigation into whether others were involved, questioning whether two people alone could have carried out the killings of four family members.
