Teacher couple found dead inside car in Gazipur. Family says there were murdered

Police recovered their bodies from Gazipur city. Relatives claim they were murdered

Police have retrieved the bodies of a couple, both schoolteachers, from a car in Gazipur city. Their family is claiming that they were murdered.

They pointed out that all of the couple's valuables, including a gold necklace, cash and their mobile phones, were found with them. Police did not immediately address the family's claims.

Ziaur Rahman Mamun, the head teacher of Tongi's Shaheed Smriti School, and his wife Jolly Akhter, an assistant teacher at Amjad Ali High School, were found dead in the South Khailkur Bogartek area on Thursday, according to Gacha Police Station chief Nanda Lal Chowdhury.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Ziaur's elder brother Md Ripon said the couple was the victim of a murder plot. "The gold necklace, cash and mobile phones that my brother and his wife were carrying didn't go missing. If the incident was not pre-meditated, then the money, the necklace and the car would have been taken. But that wasn't the case."

Ziaur and Jolly are natives of Mymensingh's Trishal area.

Ziaur was appointed as the head teacher of Shaheed Smriti High School in September 2020, according to his brother-in-law Abdur Rashid. Before that, he was working as the head teacher of Punshahi High School in Gazipur's Kaliganj. Ziaur lived with his family in Kamarjuri.

“Both Ziaur and Jolly used their car to commute. After school on Wednesday, Ziaur took his cousin Kamruzzaman, who was also a colleague, and went to Jolly's school. From there, they picked up Jolly and headed home. Ziaur dropped Kamruzzaman off on the way. Kamruzzaman is an assistant teacher of mathematics at Ziaur's school."

Around 7:30 pm on Wednesday, Ziaur's son AKM Tausifur Rahman Miraj called his father over the phone, but he did not answer, according to Rashid. Miraj then called his mother, who said they were on their way home. That was the last time he heard from his parents.

The family later contacted the Gacha, Tongi East and West police stations and looked for the couple throughout the night.

“Ziaur Sir resides in Gacha's Kamarjuri area and Kamruzzaman lives in Tongi's Shilmun," said Md Nuruzzaman Rana, assistant headmaster of Shaheed Smriti High School.

“Kamruzzaman would identify himself as the headmaster's cousin. Ziaur sir had a good relationship with all the teachers at the school. I've never heard about him having any conflict or bad blood with anyone.”

Asked about the matter, Kamruzzaman said, "Around 6:30 pm on Wednesday, I went to the school's gate after a private teaching session nearby. Headmaster Ziaur Rahman was heading out at the time. He asked me to get in his car and said he would drop me off on his way home. Later, he picked up his wife from her school."

“The headmaster was driving the car himself. He dropped me off in the Sahara Market area in Tongi around 7:30 pm. After that, I didn't see or hear from them again."

The couple's son Miraj said a few locals later discovered them lying unconscious inside their car around dawn. "Father was in the driver's seat and my mother was next to him."

Ziaur and Jolly were initially rushed to the Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College Hospital in Boardbazar. They were later taken to a hospital in Dhaka's Uttara, where doctors declared them dead, according to Miraj.

Informed of the matter, law enforcers took the bodies to the Gacha Police Station in two ambulances.

Asked if there was any foul play involved, Assistant Commissioner (Media) Abu Sayem Nayan of Gazipur Metropolitan Police said that there were no obvious wounds on the bodies.

An empty tiffin box was found beside one of the bodies and the authorities are examining its contents, according to Nayan.

The bodies have been sent to Gazipur's Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital for autopsy to determine the causes of their deaths, said Gacha Police Station Chief Nanda Lal.

An investigation has been launched to get to the bottom of the incident, said Deputy Commissioner (Crime) Mohammad Iltutmish of Gazipur Metropolitan Police.