Two sisters were brutally murdered in the capital’s Shewrapara area allegedly over a longstanding property dispute. A close relative of the victims has been detained and is being interrogated by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in connection with the killings.
Though DB officials have confirmed the arrest, they have yet to disclose the suspect’s name. Investigators said the individual confessed to the murders and detailed how the crime was carried out, admitting the killings were motivated by a feud over property.
CCTV footage from the crime scene showed a tall young man entering the victims’ apartment in one outfit and exiting later in different clothes. Investigators believe the man seen in the footage is the prime suspect.
Sources said the victims had no male heirs — one sister was unmarried and the other had no son — which may have made them targets for those seeking control of the property.
Joint Commissioner (South) of DB Mohammad Nasirul Islam said, “We are interrogating a suspect. Hopefully, we will be able to reveal more details about the murders soon.”
Deputy Commissioner of Mirpur Maksudur Rahman confirmed the motive behind the murders was property-related. “A relative of the victims committed the crime. DB has taken the suspect into custody. Further updates will be provided by DB,” he said.
As the suspect is now in DB custody, Mirpur police said they are not in a position to provide further details.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Mirpur Police Station Md Sajjadur Rahman said, “It appears that someone familiar to the victims committed the murders for family-related reasons.” He cited CCTV footage showing an unidentified man descending from the second floor of the building at around 4:30pm on the day of the incident, carrying a black bag, wearing a cap and a face mask.
“He kept his head lowered to avoid identification on camera,” the OC said.
The murder case, filed by the victims’ family, has been transferred to DB for further investigation.
Relatives of the victims said the two sisters — Mariam Begum (60) and her younger sister Sufia Begum (52) — lived in a flat in West Shewrapara. Sufia was unmarried and had some mental health issues.
Mariam was a former assistant director (Coordination) at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), who retired in 2021.
Her husband, Kazi Alauddin, a retired forest officer, resides mostly at their ancestral home in Barisal. Their elder daughter, Israt Jahan Khushbu, lives in the United States, while the younger daughter, Nusrat Jahan Brishti, works at a foreign-owned company in Dhaka.
Nusrat discovered the blood-soaked bodies of her mother and aunt when she returned home from work.
Investigation sources said a young man wearing a shirt and cap entered the house shortly before Friday’s Jummah prayers, carrying a bag. He stayed inside between 1.5 to 2 hours. When he left, he had changed into a t-shirt but was still wearing the cap. Forensic teams found blood-stained fingerprints on files inside a bag placed on the dining table.
DB sources said they analysed three CCTV footage clips from the building and surrounding areas and successfully identified the suspect from them.
Police recovered the bodies at around 10pm Friday and sent them to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for autopsy.