Staff Reporter :
Investigators of the siblings murder case in the city’s Rampura suspect the parents and their relatives might have connection with the killing while the family members claimed the death took place due to food poisoning.
Some residents of the building also alleged that the siblings were killed by their parents or guests between 4:15pm and 6:00pm on Monday inside their apartment on the fourth-floor of a seven-storey building.
A staff of DMCH echoed opinion of the residents and said that the bodies of the siblings were taken to DMCH on Monday night.
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) says it will ‘speak’ with the parents and an aunt over the mysterious deaths of the two.
On Tuesday, a forensic report of the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) claimed that siblings were strangled and the several injury marks found on eyes, throat, hands and legs of the deceased strengthen the suspicions. The report also said that the incident might have been planned as no primary symptom of food poisoning was found in the bodies.
Earlier, Viqarunnisa Noon School student Ishrat Zahan Oroni and her brother Alvi Aman were declared dead by DMCH when they were taken there in unconscious condition on Monday night. They were buried in Jamalpur district at Monday night.
RAB members on Tuesday detained the parents Mohammad Amanullah, Mahfuza Malek Jesmin, and their aunt Afroza Malek Nila over the death of Nusrat Aman Arani and her younger brother Alvi Aman.
The RAB-3 brought them at their Headquarters in the
city’s Tikatoly area from Jamalpur for interrogation in this connection. “We brought them to Dhaka to just speak with them over the incident as some allegations have been raised against them by the detectives,” Additional SP Mostak Ahmed, RAB-3 told The New Nation on Tuesday.
RAB-3 official said that they suspected that people inside the house might be involved in the killings but ‘we have not enough evidence’.
RAB investigators are interrogating house tutor Sheuly, Mahfuza’s cousin Obaidul Islam, caretakers Pintu Mandal, and Ferdous Hawlader, and victims’ cousin Shahin, 22.
“We are awaiting a viscera report. But, we think that they have been murdered,” DMCH forensic department’s Assistant Professor Md Sohel Mahmud told the New Nation on Tuesday.
He said, Aroni’s body bears injury marks in neck and right hand and Alvi’s body bears injury marks in leg and neck. Doctor also found blood clot on Aroni’s eyes. It is suspected that the injuries might have caused the deaths.
Dr Pradeep further said that their viscera were collected and will be sent to Mohakhali. Details would be disclosed after getting the full report.
The family said they ate food at a restaurant on Sunday night and took home the leftovers. They ate the food on Monday afternoon and went to sleep. They did not wake up again.
Salina, a neighbor of the siblings, “It was initially believed that the children died from food poisoning. But autopsy suggests that they might have been murdered.”
Aman’s friend Shafiqul Islam, said that his friend informed the sad news over mobile phone on Monday afternoon.
Aman’s another friend Md Jahidul Islam claimed to reporters that he brought them at DMCH when on duty doctors declared them dead instantly.
A case is yet to be filed over the matter, according to Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Rampura Police Station. “Police will lodge a case if the family doesn’t.”
‘We are doubtful about the food poison story. We raided the restaurant on Monday night and interrogated its employees and officials. We need to interrogate the parents about the food poisoning story,’ the police official added.
Nusrat’s house tutor Sheuly Akhter, who was picked by the RAB, told reporters minutes before she was taken to custody on Tuesday that Nusrat opened the door at about 3:00pm on Monday and her tutorial lasted for one hour.
Sheuly said, Nusrat’s mother Mahfuza was sleeping in another room while Nusrat’s grandmother was at the house.
The house tutor claimed that she left the house at about 4:15pm in good health.
Sabina Yesmin, wife of caretaker Pintu Mandal, who was picked up by RAB team on Tuesday, said, “Her husband along with others saw two people were entering apartment hurriedly at about 6:00pm on Monday.
A few minutes later, the two men brought Nusrat and their aunt Afroza Malek Nila brought Alvi to a white car.”
Officials at nearby Al-Razi Islamia Hospital said that Afroza along with two men brought the kids to the hospital in unconscious state. The hospital’s on duty doctor Abdullah-Al Maruf said that they found no indications that the siblings were alive.
‘As their aunt asked me whether they might move somewhere else for better treatment, I referred them to DMCH,’ Maruf said.
The family’s temporary domestic help Amena Khatun said that she saw two packets of food stored in their refrigerator.
