Family of five found dead in Kapasia house
Kapasia Upazila under Gazipur district has been gripped by shock and grief following the deaths of a woman, her three daughters and her brother in a suspected murder case, with police alleging that the head of the family fled after the incident.
The deaths occurred on the night of Friday, 8 May, in Rautokona village of the upazila.
Police said investigations are focusing on possible family disputes linked to alleged drug addiction, financial transactions and suspicions of extramarital affairs.
The accused, Forkan Mia, son of Md Atiyar Rahman of Meri
Gopinathpur village in Gopalganj Sadar Upazila, remains at large.
The deceased were identified as Forkan Mia’s wife Sharmin Akter, 30; daughters Mim Khanam, 15, Umme Habiba, 8, and Faria, 2; and his brother-in-law Rasul Mia, 22, from Paikkhandi village in Gopalganj Sadar.
According to local residents and police, Forkan Mia, who worked as a private car driver, had been living with his family for nearly five years in a rented ground-floor house owned by expatriate Monir Hossain, currently living in Qatar.
Rasul Mia, who worked at a factory in Gazipur Sadar, had visited the house on Friday evening.
Neighbours said the family appeared to be carrying on normally during the night.
However, suspicions arose on Saturday morning after repeated calls from outside the house went unanswered.
Local residents later entered the home and found the bodies before informing police.
Senior police officials, along with teams from the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Detective Branch (DB) and the local police station, visited the scene and collected evidence.
Relatives of the deceased alleged that Forkan Mia had long struggled with drug addiction and that disputes within the family had continued over the issue.
Family members said that at around 6:30am on Saturday, Forkan Mia telephoned his younger brother’s wife, Rashida, and allegedly told her that he had killed five people before fleeing.
Sharmin Akter’s aunt, Jesmin Akter, said: “Rasul Mia worked elsewhere. On Friday, Forkan Mia called him to the house on the pretext of offering him a new job.
He then allegedly killed Rasul along with his wife and children before fleeing.”
Police said an empty bottle of locally made alcohol, a soft drink bottle and cooked payesh (rice pudding) were recovered from the scene.
Investigators also recovered printed documents which, they said, indicated that Forkan Mia had earlier filed a complaint with Gopalganj Sadar police station accusing his wife of embezzling Tk 10 lakh and alleging an extramarital relationship.
Sharmin Akter’s uncle, Md Ujjwal Mia, rejected the allegations. “As far as we know, Forkan had not visited his in-laws recently and there had been no such incident. I believe he made those claims to protect himself,” he said.
Additional Superintendent of Police for the Kapasia-Kaliganj circle, Asaduzzaman, said: “Preliminarily, it is believed that the head of the family, Forkan Mia, carried out the killings. He has been absconding since the incident.
The investigation is proceeding with drug use, alleged extramarital affairs and financial disputes as key areas of inquiry.”
He added that several law enforcement agencies were jointly investigating the case and that two individuals connected to Forkan Mia through the car business had been detained for questioning.
Additional District Magistrate Salma Khatun described the incident as “extremely heartbreaking”, adding: “Seeing the bodies of the children in particular caused great distress.
Efforts are under way, in coordination with law enforcement agencies, to arrest the suspect quickly.”
Police said inquest reports had been completed and the bodies sent to the morgue at Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital for autopsy.
The killings have triggered fear and anger across the area, with local residents demanding the swift arrest of the suspect and the maximum punishment under the law.
