Two key suspects in the Rangpur family murder case, Siddhartha and Mugdha Das, have tested negative for Yaba, cannabis and other drugs, though experts say testing 10 days after the killings limits reliability. Police secured a two-day jail-gate interrogation, while investigators stress the negative reports will not derail the probe into the strangling of four family members.
Siddhartha Das and Mugdha Das, two suspects arrested over the killings of former schoolteacher Ganapati Chakraborty, his wife and their two children in Rangpur, tested negative for drugs on Monday, with no trace of Yaba, cannabis or other banned substances found in their urine samples.
Deputy Commissioner (Detective Branch) of Rangpur Metropolitan Police Sonaton Chakroborty confirmed the development.
However, a medical expert said the samples were collected 10 days after the killings, making it difficult to determine whether the two had consumed drugs around the time of the incident.
Meanwhile, a Rangpur court allowed police to interrogate the two suspects for two days, for three hours each day, at the jail gate.
Judge of Rangpur Metropolitan Magistrate Court-2 Rafiqul Islam passed the order after Jinnat Ali, investigating officer in the murder case, sought a three-day remand for their interrogation.
Police said the two suspects, in their statements recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, claimed they were in an agitated state and under the influence of drugs when the killings took place.
Following a court order, doctors collected urine samples from Siddhartha and Mugdha at Rangpur Central Jail on August 30 in the presence of police.
Laboratory tests subsequently found no trace of Yaba, cannabis or any other prohibited substance in their samples, according to the reports.
Prof Dr Md Rashedul Haque, head of the Department of Biochemistry at Rangpur Medical College, said drug traces generally remain detectable in urine for several days, depending on the substance and other factors.
“Testing should have been done earlier. A test within seven days could have provided a better indication of recent drug use,” he said.
Rashedul, however, said a negative result after 10 days does not conclusively establish that the suspects had not consumed drugs at the time of the killings.
Ganapati’s sister-in-law Puja Chakraborty also questioned why the drug tests were not conducted earlier.
She said the tests could have been carried out within one or two days of the incident and expressed concern over the reliability of a negative result obtained 10 days later.
Detective Branch officials said the negative drug-test reports would not affect other aspects of the investigation.
Investigators are examining the suspects’ statements, evidence collected from the crime scene and other information as part of the ongoing investigation, they said.
On August 22, police recovered the bodies of Ganapati, 65, a former teacher at Rangpur Zilla School; his wife, Pritilata Chakraborty Bala, 50; daughter Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, 25; and son Ayush Chakraborty Priyam, 12, from their locked home in Machhuapara of Rangpur city.
Police said all four had been strangled.
Police arrested Mugdha, 23, and Siddhartha, 19, from the same area the following day in connection with the killings.
The two suspects later gave confessional statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before a court. Two witnesses, identified as Shimanto and Bidyut Das, also recorded statements before the court.