48hrs after Pallabi teacher killing, cops clueless

Police are yet to identify any suspects 48 hours after a 68-year-old schoolteacher was killed with a hammer in her rented flat in the capital’s Pallabi.

Police recovered the bloodstained body of Firoza Khanom Josna, a teacher at Holy Crescent Ideal School, on Friday afternoon.

The inquest report, prepared after an autopsy at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital morgue, noted severe injury marks on the left side of her head, as well as on her nose and eyes.

Police also recovered a blood-stained hammer at the crime scene, which they believe had been used in the killing.

Firoza had been living alone for 10 to 12 years in a rented room on the first floor of a six-storey building on Road 8, Block D, Section 12 in Mirpur, her brother Nazmul Azam told The Daily Star.

She hailed from Krishnapur under Munshipara Police Station in Kurigram.

Nazmul said she had married decades ago but was later divorced. She had no children and maintained little contact with her family.

She occupied one room of a three-room flat, while another family lived in the remaining two rooms as sub-tenants, said one of her neighbours, Md Milon. The family had gone to their village home early Thursday and returned on Friday afternoon, he added.

Abdul Mannan, a security guard at the building, said Firoza gave private tuition at various houses in addition to her teaching job. She usually left home every morning and returned around 10:00pm.

When she did not leave the house even after 10:30am on Friday, the guard went to check on her. Finding the door open, he informed local resident Mohiuddin, and they entered the flat and found her lying on her bed in a pool of blood.

On information, Pallabi police went to the scene. The Crime Scene Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) also collected evidence.

Alamgir Jahan, officer-in-charge of Pallabi Police Station, told The Daily Star that the incident likely took place in the early hours of Friday.

“The door was open. It is highly likely the killer was someone known to her, as she would not normally open the door to a stranger at that hour,” he said.

The victim’s brother, Nazmul Azam, filed a murder case with Pallabi Police Station.

Sub-Inspector Al-Amin, the investigating officer, said: “Despite collecting evidence from the scene and reviewing nearby CCTV footage, we have not been able to identify any suspects yet.”