In the aftermath of the brutal killing of four members of a family on August 22, 2026, in Bangladesh, social media has been abuzz with claims framing the incident along communal lines. 

A Bangladesh-based X account, Bangladeshi Hindus Community (@Hindubd49346), shared a post on August 23, claiming that six Muslim men brutally killed a Hindu Family in Rangpur, Bangladesh. (Archive)

The account subsequently published a series of posts questioning the investigation and repeatedly amplified claims that “Bangladeshi jihadis-Islamists” were responsible for the deaths, including that of a child. 

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Another Bangladeshi X account, Voices of BD Hindus (@HinduUnityBD), shared a video shot from the crematorium, accompanied by a caption alleging that the family was killed by ‘Anti-Hindu Tarique Rahman’, seemingly targeting the Bangladeshi prime Minister. (Archive)

On August 26, ISKCON monk Radharamn Das (@RadharamnDas) wrote a long, descriptive post on X, similarly suggesting that the killings had a communal dimension. Das asserted, “Their only ‘crime’ was that they were Hindus”. (Archive)

The post garnered around 140,000 views. 

Fact Check

We performed a relevant keyword search, which led us to multiple news reports identifying the two individuals accused in the murder case as 23-year-old Siddhartha Das and his 19-year-old cousin, Mugdha Das. According to the police, the pair had consumed yaba, a potent psychoactive drug, before the killings. 

Alt News located a post shared on Facebook by Bangladesh Police identifying Siddhartha Das as the son of Binoy Chandra Das, and Mugdha Das as the son of late Kanu Das. Both are residents of Tut Farm area in Kamal Kachna in Machuapara of Rangpur city in Bangladesh.  

 

Siddhartha runs a fish business at Rangpur City Bazar, while Mugdha works as a goldsmith, according to the Bangladesh-based news outlet The Daily Star.

The four victims were identified as Ganapati Chakraborty, 65, a retired Rangpur Zila School teacher; his wife, Pritilata Chakraborty, 50; their daughter, Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, 23, and their 12-year-old son, Ayush Chakraborty, a Class V student at Rangpur Zila School. 

On Thursday, August 27, Rangpur Metropolitan police commissioner Abdul Mabud held a press conference during which police said that the two accused, Siddhartha Das and Mugdha Das, had confessed to the killings before the honourable court. 

What happened ?

According to the police account of their confessions, Siddhartha and Mugdha consumed yaba together after midnight on Thursday. They subsequently went to the residence of one Simanta Das, where they consumed three more yaba tablets. At around 3 am, they reportedly decided to consume more and contacted a local dealer, from whom they obtained four additional tablets. Police said the cousins had allegedly mortgaged their mobile phones to the dealers in order to purchase the drugs.

The two initially went to the terrace of a person named Debu before moving to the terrace of the Chakraborty residence. According to police, they chose the latter because it was covered and therefore provided a more concealed place to consume yaba.

Siddhartha reportedly told police that the two had consumed a total of eight yaba tablets that night — the highest amount they had consumed till date. In the early hours of the morning, Ganapati Chakraborty reportedly went to the terrace and confronted the two men, asking what they were doing there. According to the police account, the two became panicked and, fearing exposure, strangled Ganapati with a ‘gamcha’ or bathing towel.

After some time, Pritilata and Agami came to the terrace. They then allegedly strangled Pritilata with the same towel. Siddhartha reportedly struggled with Agami when she resisted. When she remained alive after the initial assault, the two allegedly strangled her with a rope found near a pigeon cage.

Fearing that the house might have CCTV cameras, the accused allegedly used pliers to cut several electrical wires, disconnecting the power supply. They then entered Ganapati’s room, where they reportedly found Ayush awake. According to reports, he had identified Siddhartha.  Fearing that the child might alert neighbours, they allegedly strangled Ayush with a piece of cloth.

Police said the accused subsequently ransacked the house and stole 15,000 taka in cash and gold ornaments, allegedly in an attempt to make the killings appear to be a robbery. 3500 taka from that money was used by Siddhartha to get back his phone, the police added.

According to the police narration of the confession, after carrying out the killings, the two became exhausted, took a bath and freshened up, and remained inside the house for several hours to avoid interacting with people outside and smoked one more yaba.

Police clarified that the post-mortem examinations reportedly established strangulation as the cause of death for all four victims. Police also confirmed that the two female victims had not been sexually assaulted. 

Relatives of the Chakraborty family alleged that the faces of all the four had been burnt. An officer from CID Rangpur said police suspected some flammable liquid was poured on the bodies before or after the killing. What the substance was could be ascertained after further investigation.

To sum up, there is no communal angle in the murder case. 

False
Claim:
Jihadist Islamist killed a Hindu family with 4 members in bangladesh

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