Retired Hindu teacher, family found dead inside locked Bangladesh home

A retired schoolteacher, his wife, daughter and 12-year-old son were found dead inside their locked home in Rangpur city late Saturday night, with police suspecting that the family may have been strangled.

The bodies were recovered around 11.30 pm, according to Nazmul Kader, officer-in-charge of Rangpur Metropolitan Kotwali Police Station.

The deceased were identified as retired Rangpur Zilla School teacher Ganapati Chakraborty, 65, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty, 50, their daughter Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, 23, and son Priyam Chakraborty, 12.

BODIES FOUND IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF HOUSE

Subir Chowdhury, in-charge of Rangpur Metropolitan CID, told The Daily Star that the bodies of Pritilata and Agami were found on the staircase, while Ganapati's body was recovered from the roof. Priyam's body was found underneath a bed.

“Initially, we suspect that they were strangled,” Chowdhury said, adding that the killings may have taken place sometime between midnight on Thursday and early Friday.

Police, CID and Detective Branch teams have launched a joint investigation into the deaths.

FAMILY MEMBERS ALERTED AFTER PHONES SWITCHED OFF

According to relatives, all four family members' mobile phones had been switched off since Thursday night.

Puja Chakraborty, Pritilata's younger sister, told The Daily Star that she last spoke to her sister on Thursday afternoon. After the phones remained unreachable, relatives went to the house on Saturday night.

The main gate was locked and the lights inside the house were switched off. Police later arrived, broke open the lock and entered the property, where they found the four bodies.

Puja said the family had recently built a new house in the area and that she was unaware of anyone having a dispute with Ganapati.

FAMILY'S RECENT LIFE IN RANGPUR

Ganapati retired from Rangpur Zilla School on December 31 last year. His daughter completed her master's degree in English from Rangpur Carmichael College this year, while his son was a Class 5 student at Rangpur Zilla School.

Ganapati's niece Soma Chakraborty said he had no known enemies. She added that he had started working as a homeopathic practitioner after retirement.

Local resident Sudhangshu Chandra Das said the family had lived in the area for around four years. Ganapati had built the three-storey house, although construction work was still incomplete.

Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Mabud said the case was being investigated with the highest priority.

He said the exact cause of death would be established after the autopsy reports are received, while Detective Branch personnel are working to determine what happened and identify those responsible.

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