TWO police officers were killed on the spot when they were run over by a narcotics laden truck at a checkpoint under Shibganj Upazila in Chapainawabganj district in the early hours of Thursday, as per a report of The New Nation. Riding a motorcycle, the police officers were chasing the truck which was allegedly carrying phensidyl. But the truck driver violated the signal and crashed the motorcycle along with two policemen in Kasatpukuria area on Shibganj-Sonamasjid highway.
The victims were identified as Sajidul Islam, son of Abdus Sattar, hailing from Dinajpur district and SI of Shibganj Police Station, and Ataul Islam, son of Shajahan, hailing from Joypurhat district and a trainee traffic sergeant of the police station. Police instantly formed a special team and started operation to track down the killer truck and its driver.
After killing two police officers, the truck tried to flee away through a nearby village road, but ultimately it failed to get any escape route. Police later seized the blood-stained truck and arrested its driver Mohammad Siraj from there. Police also recovered 1,450 bottles of phensidyl worth about Tk 1.5 crore. Police brought the truck to the local police station and filed three cases, including a murder, against the driver with the station.
A school teacher was killed in broad daylight on the same day by the miscreants in Saldha Upazila of Faridpur district as he protected those drug users who are also engaged in anti-social offensives in the locality. There has been a police case also.
The menace and lure of drugs is so powerful that it corrupts whoever comes into touch with it — in this case the driver of the truck. From the Faridpur case, it is evident that even the once peaceful villages are not free from the harmful aggression of drugs.
So far, India — our big friendly neighbour is the major supplier of most drugs to our country. In more simple words, drug supply to Bangladesh has long been a big business for the Indian side.
This pernicious influence of drugs is the main reason why it remains banned in all countries — like Mexico and the US have spent billions of dollars combating the supply side to lower the demand — but it has not worked properly. This is because the demand side must be also dealt with. The pervasive influence of drugs can infiltrate any stratum of society, and once hooked, it becomes impossible for an individual to evade its clutches.
For Bangladesh it should not be too difficult to find out who the real drug smugglers are, what are the supply routes, who are the middlemen in the country, and so on. It is simply a matter of proper investigation and detective work to figure out the shifting ways by which drug smugglers bring in their deadly cargoes. But the will to do so must be there — otherwise we will essentially be allowing a section of our population to fall prey to the menace which is drug addiction. We may not be able to control addicts through rehab centers, but surely we can stop the deadly flow of such drugs to our borders.
