Following a six-hour standoff, police in Dhaka have recovered the body of a 2-year-old boy and rescued his 3-and-half-year-old brother from a house in Bangla Motor and arrested the father.

Police said it was not clear yet whether the boy identified as Safayet was murdered or it was a natural death.

Deputy Commissioner Maruf Hossain Sardar of the police’s Ramna division said that the father Nuruzzaman Kajol, seemed to be mentally unstable and his wife had left him owing to this.

However, the couple’s two sons — Surayet and Safayet lived with Kajol, he said.

Kajol is also suspected to be a drug addict, according to family sources.

After receiving reports that a man has killed his son inside his home and held the other son hostage with a machete, the police cordoned off the building. Soon after, the fire service and Rapid Action Battalion joined them.

They, however, failed to enter the house as Kajol equipped with a sharp weapon was standing at the main entrance with the door locked from inside.

“We tried to convince Kajol and told him that we would offer janaza for his child. We, from outside, saw him holding his son in one arm while carrying a sharp weapon in the other hand,” Abul Hossain, officer-in-charge of Shahbag Police Station said.

Following repeated requests of law enforcers, he threatened to kill his elder son if they tried to enter.

“I will come out of the house in the afternoon to offer janaza for my son,” Kajol told the police.

Around 12:45pm the imam (religious cleric) of a nearby mosque announced that a namaz-e-janaza will be held for his son but to no avail.

Finally, another cleric of the mosque went to the spot around 1:40am, called Kajol from outside, convinced him and managed to enter the house.

Kajol came out of the house with Surayet while the cleric carried out the body of two-year old Safayet in a shroud.

Police said that the cause of Safayet’s death can be confirmed only after autopsy.

“We found the home to be rampaged and yet to find any clue as to how the boy died. Noting can be said before an autopsy; no blood marks were found,” Deputy Commissioner Sardar said.

“Let me make one thing clear, the victim and the suspect is father and son. We will not blame anyone until there’s any evidence,” he added.

The boy’s body was taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue, where Sub-Inspector Champak Chakrabarty of the Shahbagh police prepared the initial report.

“There were no injury marks on the body. Details can be said after the autopsy,” he told Bangla Tribune.

Kajol along with his four other brothers lived at their Bangla Motor house land. But his brothers left the house due to his deteriorating mental health, according to relatives.

His wife left him three months ago after Kajol physically tortured her. A general diary was filed with Shahbagh police station.