Daughter involved in parents’ murder: Police

Police have claimed the daughter of the slain couple – SB Inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and Swapna Begum – was involved in the gruesome murder of her parents.

They made the claim at a press conference on Saturday after ‘Oishee’ surrendered to Paltan Police Station and detectives held five others in subsequent drives.

Some ornaments missing from the couple’s Chamelibagh flat, where they were killed, were found in Oishee’s possession, said Detective Branch of Police spokesperson Monirul Islam.

She was ‘hiding’ ever since her parents’ blood-drenched bodies were recovered on Friday from the bathroom – bolted from outside – of their Chamelibagh flat.

Mahfuzur, 45, and Swapna, 42, used to live on the fourth-floor flat with their two children – Oishee and Oihee – and a child domestic help.

Oishee, an O-Level student of Oxford International School, is the eldest of the two children.

Earlier, Mahfuzur’s brother, Monsur Rahman, lodged a case with the Motijheel Police Station on Saturday morning, accusing unnamed persons.

Autopsies were conducted on the bodies at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and samples have been kept for visceral tests.

There were two stab wounds on Mahfuzur’s body while Swapna had 11 wounds.

The post-mortem report said the couple was stabbed to death by at least two or more 'amateur killers'.

The caretaker of the couple’s flat said Oishee left the house on Thursday morning taking along her seven-year old brother Oihee and the house maid Sumi.

Oihee was sent back to a relative’s house in a rickshaw in the afternoon.
Investigators had deemed Oishee’s activities suspicious after talking to her relatives and brother Oihee and had believed finding her would shed light on the mysterious double murder.

A team of detectives launched an operation in the afternoon following Oishee’s surrender and that led to the nabbing of five others.

DB spokesperson Monirul said Oishee, her friend ‘Rony’ or ‘Johnny’ (he was unsure of the name) and Sumi, the 11-year old domestic help, were being currently held. Three others have also been brought in for questioning.

He said: “The primary information that we have got suggests Oishee was somehow involved with the murders.”

Police are assuming that sleeping tablets were mixed with coffee to sedate Mahfuzur and Swapna before the murders.

Asked about the reasons behind the killings, Monirul said they were not yet sure about them but were investigating to ascertain it.

SB Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters that there was an instruction from Mahfuzur against Oishee’s leaving the flat alone.

Deceased Swapna Begum and her husband SB Inspector Mahfuzur Rahman

“But she left the apartment building along with her sibling and domestic help telling the caretaker that they were going to her uncle’s (maternal aunt’s husband) house. She sent Oihee to a neighbouring flat on a rickshaw on Friday morning.”

Swapna’s brother Rabiul Islam said Oishee called him on Friday morning asking him to come to their flat.

Rabiul quoted Oishee as telling him ‘Uncle we were outside. Now we are going home. You come to our house’.

He said after reaching the flat, he found it locked. Oihee came there around 11 am, he added.

Rabiul said he informed police of the matter as he could not reach the phones of Mahfuzur and Swapna.

A police officer told bdnews24.com that Oishee walked into the Paltan Police Station in the afternoon and indentified herself to the duty officer.

The Officer-in-Charge took her to the Motijheel zone Deputy Commissioner of police and later she was taken to Detective Branch office at Minto Road.

‘Killers amateurs’

The post-mortem report said Mahfuzur and Swapna were stabbed to death by amateur killers.

Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) forensic department's Assistant Professor Sohel Mahmud, who conducted the autopsy in the morning, said more than one person were involved in the couple’s killing.

He told bdnews24.com: “Mahfuzur was stabbed in his throat and he died after his windpipe was severed.”

“Swapna Begum’s throat bore two stab wounds, three in right side of her ribcage, one in the chest and the rest in her belly and back. Her liver and kidney were injured and her windpipe was also severed.”

Sohel said these were 'all stab wounds.'

Police seized a kitchen knife and another knife from their house after the bodies were found.

DMCH forensic expert Sohel said the killing was done by ‘at least two or more people’. “But the way they were stabbed leads us to believe that the killers were amateurs.”

SB DIG Mosharraf on Friday had suspected hate behind the ‘planned murder’ which was committed by ‘at least four persons’.

Sohel said a double edged knife was used to kill the couple.

Different parts of their bodies were also collected for the visceral tests, he said.