Murder of Garo Women: Relative now a key suspect

Police and family members of the two Garo women murdered in the capital's Kalachandpur area on Tuesday suspect that a nephew of one of the victims and his three friends had killed them.

In the first information report filed with the Gulshan Police Station yesterday, one of the victim's husband Ashish Mankhin, said, “Sanjib Chiran [the nephew] killed my wife with a knife and strangled my mother-in-law with the help of three associates. It was a pre-planned murder.”

But he did not mention why the suspect would have done such a thing.

Abu Bakkar Siddique, officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police station, said the motives could include family feud, property issues and sexual relations.

“We have some leads and are hoping to arrest Sanjib and his associates soon. They have gone into hiding,” he added.

Police recovered the bodies of Sujata Chiran, 40, and her mother Besat Moni Chiran, 65, from their flat around 8:00pm on Tuesday.

Autopsies conducted at Dhaka Medical College (DMC) morgue found 14 stab marks on Sujata's back, chest and hands. Besat was strangled to death. Morgue employees said they would examine whether Sujata was raped.

The bodies were taken to their village in Mymensingh for burial after the autopsies.

Family members said Sujata had been living in the flat along with her mother, husband, two daughters and a granddaughter for the last two years.

The suspect Sanjib lived with the family about one-and-a-half years ago. He settled in Mymensingh after he got married, Sujata's brother-in-law Piom Mankhin told The Daily Star.

“We are suspecting that Sanjib might have murdered them to loot valuables from the flat. Some cash is missing,” he said

Sujata's daughter Mayabi Chiran was also of the same opinion.

Detectives said they were conducting a shadow investigation in the double murder.

“We are trying to arrest the suspects. More will be known after they are caught,” Moshiur Rahman, deputy commissioner (north) of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police told The Daily Star.