2 addicts held from DMCH ladies’ toilet

Staffs of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) caught two drug addicts from a ladies' toilet yesterday and handed them over to police.

The two -- Md Asif, 25, and Mukul Ahmed, 35, -- were caught with syringes and drugs in the afternoon, hospital sources said.

They said the ward boys became suspicious when they saw the two entering the ladies' toilet. As the two youths did not come out even after a long time, the ward boys informed the ward master who rushed to the spot and started knocking at the door, forcing them to come out of the toilet.

The ward master then searched the youths and found that Asif was carrying a blood-stained syringe and an ampoule of Tidigesic, an injection used by the drug addicts.

The agitated ward boys also beat up Asif and handed both of them over to the DMCH camp police.

Talking to The Daily Star, Asif, a resident of Mohammadpur, said he went to the toilet for taking drug as he thought it is a safe place.

He admitted that he has been taking drugs for the last two years and came here many times for this purpose.

Asif also said he became a victim of a conspiracy by a drug peddler from whom he used to buy drugs near the DMCH emergency gate. As he now buys drugs from another peddler, that drug peddler incited the ward boys to beat him, he added.

The other youth Mukul, a resident of Rampura, said he came to the scene just to rescue his friend Asif from the wrath of the agitated mob.

As the DMCH staffs handed over them to the DMCH police camp, Mukul tried to influence the camp-in-charge Subedar Nasir to free them, falsely claiming that he is the brother of Superintendent of Police (SP) of Sylhet and said his brother's name is Muntaj.

He even called one person over his mobile phone and told him that he was in serious trouble.

The person on the other end identifying himself as the SP also talked to the camp-in-charge and told him to make them free. But Subedar Nasir sent them to the Ramna Police Station.

When The Daily Star correspondent called to the Sylhet SP's house to verify the statement of the youth, a policeman received the phone call and said that Muntaj is not the name of the SP and there is not even any additional SP and assistant SP named Muntaj.

Ramna police source said the DMCH police have sent Asif and Mukul to their custody. But no cases were filed as of 7.30pm yesterday.