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The investigation into the killing of retired teacher Ganapati Chakraborty and four members of his family in Machuapara, Rangpur, has been transferred from Kotwali Police Station to the Detective Branch (DB).
The investigation was handed over on Monday night (August 24) as part of efforts to ensure a more transparent, thorough and speedy probe, police said.
Rangpur Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner and DB chief Sanatan Chakraborty confirmed the development.
Former investigation officer Milon Chatterjee, an inspector at Kotwali Police Station, handed over all case documents and evidence to the new investigation officer, DB Officer-in-Charge Zinat Ali. The two officers later visited the crime scene at Ganapati Chakraborty’s home in Machuapara, where Chatterjee briefed Ali on the details of the case.
Sanatan said two accused, Mugdha Das and Siddhartha Das, had given confessional statements before a court under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by Sunday night.
“We learnt through the court that the accused repeated essentially the same account that the police commissioner gave at his press conference. However, they also provided some new information that they had not told us,” he said.
Despite the transfer of the investigation to the DB, the full mystery surrounding the killings has yet to be unravelled. Some discrepancies have also emerged between the police account and the findings of the post-mortem examinations, raising questions among local residents and relatives of the victims.
On Monday, protesters rejected the police investigation as a “staged drama” and gave the authorities a three-day ultimatum. They demanded the arrest and trial of the actual perpetrators as well as a judicial inquiry into the killings.
Police recovered the bodies of Ganapati Chakraborty Jewel, 65, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty, 50, their 25-year-old postgraduate student daughter Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, and their 12-year-old fifth-grade son Ayush Chakraborty Priyam from their locked home in Machuapara on Saturday night (August 22).
Mugdha Das, 23, and Siddhartha Das, 19, were arrested early Sunday in connection with the killings.
At a press conference later that day, Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Abdul Mabud said the family had been killed after objecting to the accused using yaba on the roof of their home.
Following post-mortem examinations, the victims were cremated at the Dakkhiganj crematorium at around 10:30pm on Sunday.
Police hope that handing the case over to the DB will help uncover the truth and allow a charge sheet to be submitted quickly. However, protesters and the victims’ relatives are demanding a fully impartial and transparent investigation to ensure that innocent people are not punished and the actual perpetrators are brought to justice.