The police account of the brutal killing of a retired Rangpur Zilla School teacher and three members of his family has triggered protests in Rangpur, with former and current teachers, students and citizens rejecting the official narrative and demanding a fresh investigation into what they allege could be an attempt to shield the real perpetrators.
Protesters blocked a key road in Rangpur city on Monday and issued a three-day ultimatum to uncover what they called the “real mystery” behind the killings and identify and arrest those responsible.
They threatened to bring the city to a standstill if their demands were not met.
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad and the Rangpur Metropolitan Citizens’ Committee also staged separate demonstrations, while the latter demanded a judicial inquiry into the killings.
Recently retired Rangpur Zilla School teacher Ganapati Chakraborty, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty, their son Priyam Chakraborty, a Class V student, and their daughter were found dead at their home in Masuapara on Saturday night, two days after they were allegedly killed.
Police subsequently arrested two youths and said the four had been strangled.
At a press conference on Sunday, Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Mabud presented the police's preliminary account of the killings, saying the two suspects had gone to the roof of the family's home on Thursday night and subsequently killed the four.
According to the police account cited by protesters, the suspects remained at the house after the killings, bathed there, ate dates and cucumbers from the refrigerator and attempted to destroy evidence from mobile phones using detergent and water.
But the explanation has met with fierce scepticism.
‘We do not believe this story’
Current and former teachers and students marched from Rangpur Zilla School on Monday before forming a human chain and later blocking the main road at Kachari Bazar around noon.
Traffic remained halted for about an hour.
Former teacher Shafiar Rahman rejected the police explanation that two youths could have killed four members of the family one after another.
“We do not believe this incident. The entire incident was staged,” he alleged, demanding that investigators identify the actual killers and determine whether anyone else was behind the crime.
Former student and cultural activist Dollar also questioned the police version and issued the three-day ultimatum.
“If the real incident is not revealed within three days, we will completely paralyse Rangpur city,” he said.
Questions have also emerged over apparent discrepancies between statements made at the police press conference and observations following the autopsy.
A former student told the demonstration that the police commissioner had described injuries to the daughter that appeared inconsistent with the observations of the doctor who conducted the autopsy.
Rangpur Medical College doctor Bablu Kishore Biswas told reporters that the victim's jaw was not broken and her eyes were not protruding, contrary to what protesters said had been described at the police briefing.
He said there were indications that she had been strangled, but cautioned that the precise cause of death could not be determined until the forensic report was available.
He also said no signs of acid burns were found on the bodies.
Judicial inquiry demanded
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad staged a separate human chain in front of the deputy commissioner's office, where its Rangpur district president Rumana Zaman questioned the credibility of the police account and demanded that the circumstances surrounding the killings be fully uncovered.
The Rangpur Metropolitan Citizens’ Committee later demonstrated in front of Rangpur Press Club.
Its member secretary, advocate Palash Kanti Nag, alleged that there appeared to be an attempt to divert the investigation and demanded formation of a judicial inquiry committee.
The widening protests have now put the police investigation under intense public scrutiny, with protesters demanding evidence supporting the official account of how two suspects allegedly killed an entire family and remained inside their home for hours afterwards.
For investigators, the immediate challenge is not only to establish who killed the four members of the Chakraborty family, but also to address the discrepancies and questions that have fuelled public distrust over one of Rangpur's most disturbing recent crimes.
