A Dhaka court Thursday placed controversial social worker Milton Samadder, chairman of Child and Old Age Care, on a three-day remand in a case filed on the charge of making fake death certificates through fraud, after his arrest on Wednesday.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Tofazzal Hossain issued the order after the hearing on Thursday.
Earlier, the investigation officer of the case, Mirpur Zonal Team Detective Branch (DB) Sub Inspector (SI) Kamal Hossain, produced the accused in court with a seven-day remand prayer.
Meanwhile, Milton’s lawyers applied for bail, which the stateside opposed. After hearing both sides, the court granted Milton Samadder’s three-day remand.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Police arrested the controversial social worker Milton Samadder, chairman of the charity organisation Child and Old Age Care, for his suspected involvement in fraud and cheating.
A team of DB police picked him up from Mirpur in the capital on Wednesday around 7:30 pm.
Mirpur Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Munshi Sabbir Ahmed said three cases had been filed against Milton Samadder so far.
He said that Milton Samadder used to forge death certificates in his centre. A case has been filed against him with the police station. Two more cases -- one for beating people in the torture cell of his centre and another for human trafficking – have been filed against Milton.
Additional Commissioner Harun Or Rashid, chief of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said, “Three cases had already been filed against Milton Samadder. Milton will be remanded, and his wife will also be called for quizzing. If someone files a case against his wife, then his wife will also be arrested. He could not deny the allegations against him.”
In a media briefing after the arrest on Tuesday, Harun Or Rashid said Milton was arrested mainly because of the allegations made against him in the media. After filing the case, he will be remanded and questioned about the charges against him.
“There are numerous allegations against him. We will thoroughly investigate all allegations,” he added.
He said that after Milton beat his father, the locals beat him up and threw him out of the area. Later, he worked at a drugstore in Shahbagh. He later lost his job after being accused of stealing drugs.
“Media reports say Milton has an operation theatre there. He buries most of the bodies at night. The media has reported that elderly people are not treated in the centre. He forged the doctor’s seal to make the death certificates himself,” said the police official.
He said, “He buried 900 bodies but could not show the documents of 800 bodies. Those who bathed the body also found blood stains near the kidneys. We will ask him why he does not take death certificates.”
The DB chief said Milton claims to have 600-700 beneficiaries in two centres in Savar and Mirpur, but media reports suggest the number is only 30 to 40.
“We will interrogate him to find out how many people he had there, how many people died, whether he sells kidneys or not – we will investigate these things.”
The police officer said, “Milton is also accused of human trafficking, attacking children and beating relatives of beneficiaries. We will look into everything.”
“His wife will also be questioned about the allegations. The charges levelled against him are heinous crimes. He will not be exempted if there is evidence,” he added.
On 28 April, the National Human Rights Commission demanded a speedy investigation into the allegations levelled against Milton Samadder.
The constitutional body requested the police to investigate the complaint closely, take appropriate legal action, and send a report to the commission as soon as possible.
At the same time, the director general of the Department of Social Services has been asked to investigate the activities of such institutions and take necessary measures.
The National Human Rights Commission has called for legal action in this regard following an investigation into the allegations.
Founded by Milton, Child & Old Age Care is a charity organisation that provides shelter to the helpless, sick, homeless elderly and disabled children on the streets, according to the details stated on the organisation’s website.
Milton’s social service activities centring on the care home are widely publicised through facebook. On facebook, it is seen that he serves the helpless. He rescues sick elderly people and vagabonds from the streets and gives shelter in old age care. He also seeks donations from affluent people to run the facilities.
However, a Bangla daily recently reported that he was allegedly involved in misappropriating money through exaggerating numbers of shelter seekers, deception, and land grabbing.
