News Desk :
Two boys, who reportedly died from consuming paracetamol syrup in Brahmanbaria’s Ashuganj a week ago, were actually poisoned by their mother, police said after a probe into the closely-watched case.
The woman laced ‘sweets’ with poison and gave them to the children to eat, police said, reports bdnews24.com
An extramarital affair was the motive behind the killing, they added.
Police arrested Lima Begum, mother of the two dead boys, from Durgapur village on Wednesday.
Brahmanbaria Additional Police Superintendent Molla Mohammad Shaheen said day labourer Ismail Hossain aka Sujon Khan, the father of the children, has filed a murder case against Lima Begum and her boyfriend Shafiullah.
Lima works in a rice mill in Ashuganj and developed an affair with Shafiullah, another worker there. They decided to get married, the SP said.
“As per their plan, Lima killed Yasin and Morsalin by feeding them poisoned sweets. She confessed to doing it during the interrogation.”
Seven-year-old Yasin Khan and five-year-old Morsalin Khan died on Mar 10. Lima had claimed that the boys ‘fell ill after consuming Napa syrup.’
Lima bought a bottle of ‘Napa syrup’ from a nearby pharmacy and had fed it to the children, she had told the reporters. The children started to vomit after ingesting the medicine.
The two were initially taken to Ashuganj Upazila Health Complex before being transferred to the district’s central hospital, Lima said. Yasin died around 9 pm, on the way home from the hospital, while Morsalin breathed his last at 10:30 pm upon reaching home, she said.
The incident was widely discussed across the country. The Directorate General of Health Services, the Directorate General of Drug Administration and Brahmanbaria General Hospital authorities formed three investigation panels to probe the deaths.
The DGDA ordered the inspection of wholesale and retail stores across the country to collect samples of a specific batch of Napa brand of paracetamol syrup for testing after the deaths of Morsalin and Yasin.
The Napa syrup ingested by the brothers was also sent to CID for a lab test.
No harmful substances were found in the medicine after the test, according to the Directorate General of Drug Administration.
The DGDA seized eight bottles of Napa from the store in Brahmanbaria’s Ashuganj where the medicine taken by the children came from, said Major General Mohammad Yousuf, director general of the organisation, at a press conference on Monday.
Meanwhile, police found that the family took both the boys to the Brahmanbaria General Hospital and bought a ticket for taking treatment in the emergency department but they were not found registered with the department.
The family could have the boys away without seeking treatment at the emergency department because they feared the stomach washing process, the hospital authorities had said. Police suspected Lima from the beginning, said Additional SP Shaheen.
“She tried to misdirect the investigation, saying the boys suffered from drug reaction after taking Napa syrup. Later she confessed to killing the children.” Police are trying to arrest Shafiullah, the other suspect in the case.
