Pest control worker remanded over two children's death

A pest control worker has been remanded in a case filed over two children's death, allegedly from pesticide poisoning in the capital's Bashundhara Residential Area.

The Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court granted a two day-remand for Titu Mollah, 37, – the loan arrestee in the case filed over the siblings' death – responding to the police's appeal for a seven-day remand, said Toachir Jahan Babu, assistant commissioner for Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Badda zone.

Police arrested Titu from DCS Organization Limited, a pest control service provider, on Sunday.

Titu was responsible for spraying insecticides in the victims' house on Friday, said Toachir Jahan Babu.

The two siblings – Shayyan Mobarat Zahin, 15, and Shahil Mobarat Zayyan, 9, –  and their parents – Sharmin Jahan Lima and father Mubarak Hossain Tushar – fell sick allegedly due to the pesticide poisoning. 

Zayyan died in the hospital on Sunday morning, while his older brother Shayyan breathed his last around 10pm on the same day. 

Mubarak Hossain Tushar filed a case against three employees of the DCS Organization Limited on Monday. The police are interrogating the arrestee. The number of suspects may increase after interrogation, said Md Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge of Bhatara police station.

The victims' relatives said the family hired a staff from DCS Organization Limited for cleaning their new apartment in the Bashundhara area on Friday. When they returned home two days later, they fell ill. 

Their aunt Dr Ronak Jahan Rozi alleged that the incident happened due to the pest control service provider's "incompetent" staff.

Dr Selim Reza, head of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Forensic and Toxicology department, said the suspected cause of death is possibly pesticide poisoning but it can be confirmed after autopsy.