Pesticide Poisoning: No one should lose children this way

"I want exemplary punishment of the people who are responsible," said Mobarak Hossain yesterday, who lost his two sons allegedly from pesticide poisoning.

The boys died after a pest control service provider used unauthorised pesticides in their house in Bashundhara Residential Area on Friday, Mobarak said.

Shayan Mobarrat Zahin, 15, a student of class-VIII , and Shahir Mobarrat Zayan, 9, a class-III student, died while undergoing treatment at a city hospital on Sunday.

"No parents should lose their children this way," he said with his voice choking.

"I just want to make sure that the criminals are not spared," Mobarak said, blaming the owners of DCS Organisation Ltd, the pest control service, for the deaths.

"The owners are responsible, not the workers. We always see workers being made scapegoats," he said.

Connected through a video call, he was speaking at a press conference arranged by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

The detective branch of the DMP held the programme at the DMP media centre to disclose the arrests of Ashrafuzzaman, chairman of the company, and its Managing Director Forhadul Amin.

Police said they were arrested from Tangail and Brahmanbaria.

A Dhaka court yesterday placed the two on a three-day remand each in a case filed over the deaths of the two children.

In the remand prayer, Md Rafiqul Islam, a sub-inspector of Bhatara Police Station and also the investigation officer of the case, said the two children died due to their gross negligence. They need to be remanded to find out the vital clues related to the deaths.

In the press release, Mobarak said the toxic chemicals used by the company were not suitable for controlling pests in homes.

"The pesticides applied at their home are usually used at warehouses of garment factories, seed storages and at non-residential areas," Harun Or Rashid, chief of the detective branch of DMP, said citing industrial experts.

If anyone uses those pesticides at home, no one should enter there for 72 to 96 hours. After that, the doors and windows have to be kept open for about 24 hours, he said.

He also said the owners or the employees did not provide the proper guidance to the family.

According to Mobarak, the employees of the company asked them to enter the house after two to three hours. The family members, however, took extra precautions and returned to the house after about 10 hours.

"The owner's greed for money and untrained workers are responsible for the deaths. They did not even give them proper briefings on safety," Harun said.

The DB official said they will investigate if the company had the approval for using these toxic substances.

He also said police will also investigate how harmful these toxic substances are and from where they collected them.