Staff Correspondent
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested two people yesterday from Barobagh area of Mirpur in the city on charge of preserving and selling blood illegally to different city clinics and hospitals.
The arrestees are Mijanur Rahman Milon, owner of a blood bank and his brother-in-law and partner of his illegal business, Mohammad Sujan.
Acting on a tip off, a team of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab)-1 jointly led by Maj Saiful Islam Chowdhury and Executive Magistrate AHM Anwar Pasha of Rab conducted a drive at the blood bank Sandhan Blood Bank and Pathology at around 11.00am.
Rab seized four bags of blood from their possessions and slapped a fine of Tk 2 lakh for each and in default of which they will have to serve three months in jail.
They were sent to jail as they failed to pay the amount of fine, Rab sources said.
Maj Saiful Islam Chowdhury told The Daily Star, Milon would collect blood for Tk 80 per bag from professional blood sellers especially from drug addicts without proper diagnostic tests and sold per bag at Tk 800.
He also said neither they had any legal documents essential to run such blood bank nor any proper arrangement to preserve the blood as they kept them in the refrigerators of the nearby departmental stores.
“We do not put any tags on the blood bags mentioning their blood groups,” he added.
He also said that he had a secret deal with nearby clinics and hospitals including National Heart Foundation and a Shishu Hospital at Mirpur where he sells those bloods.
Milon in Rab custody said he would mainly collect blood from drug addicts without proper medical tests and had been selling those with the help of some middlemen for long two years.
He also said he had been penalised six months back on the same charge and shut down the business but he had recently started it afresh.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
