Police have recovered a mobile phone reportedly belonging to the prime suspect, Forkan Mollah, in the Gazipur family murder case, raising suspicion that he may have jumped into the Padma River.
However, Gazipur District Superintendent of Police Sharif Uddin said investigators are still not certain whether he died by suicide.
“We are not yet sure whether he committed suicide or not,” the SP said while briefing reporters on Thursday afternoon.
He said the phone was recovered on May 11 from a truck helper in Meherpur Sadar upazila during the investigation. The helper told police that he had found the device near the railing in the middle of the Padma Bridge and kept it in his possession.
After reviewing CCTV footage from the bridge, investigators observed a man wearing a white shirt and black pants stepping out of a white private car on May 11. The man was seen standing beside the bridge railing for several minutes before allegedly jumping into the Padma River.
Police suspect that Forkan Mollah may have jumped from the bridge in an apparent suicide attempt after allegedly killing his wife, three daughters, and brother-in-law in a pre-planned attack.
“Police stations adjacent to the Padma Bridge have been alerted about the matter. The investigation is ongoing,” SP Sharif Uddin added.
Forkan, originally from Meri Gopinathpur village in Gopalganj Sadar upazila, worked as a private car driver. He had been living with his wife Sharmin and children in a rented house in Rautkona village of Kapasia upazila for nearly a year.
Investigators suspect that sleeping pills or sedative substances were mixed with food to render the victims unconscious before they were hacked to death with sharp weapons.
Following a complaint filed by the victim’s father, a murder case was lodged at Kapasia Police Station. Police later recovered the alleged weapon and other evidence from the scene.
The bodies of five family members — Sharmin, 35, her three daughters Mim, 16, Maria, 8, Faria, 2, and her brother Rasul, 22 — were found with their throats slit at their home in Kapasia on May 9.
Forkan Mollah had been absconding since the incident.