Woman dies in DB custody in Narsingdi

A woman died in the custody of the Detective Branch (DB) of Police in Narsingdi on Thursday (7 December).

Nurtaj Begum (60), a resident of South Kanda Para area of the district, died around 8:00am.

Hridoy, son of the deceased, said police detained her on Wednesday evening but did not inform them. 

He claimed his family was not informed that she was admitted to the hospital in the middle of the night and died in the morning.

When Hridoy went to the district hospital in the morning, he said the police did not allow him to see his mother's body.

Earlier, a team of the DB police led by Sub-inspector Naimul Mostaq arrested Nurtaj Begum with 10kg of cannabis from Narsingdi's Velanagar area around 8:30pm on Wednesday and took her to the DB office.

A case was filed against her that night. She was admitted to Narsingdi 100-bed District Hospital around 3:00am after she felt unwell. She died around 8:45am on Thursday.

Dr Md Palash Mollah, resident medical officer of Narsingdi District Hospital, said, "Nurtaj was admitted with abdominal pain at night. After treatment, she got very well. At around 7:30am, she started having stomach pain, and we treated her. Later in the day, she died. The exact cause of death will be confirmed after the autopsy."

"Nurtaj was a drug dealer. She was arrested with 10 kg of cannabis. Later in the night, she was admitted to the hospital. She died of a heart attack in the morning. A case was filed against her under narcotics law at the Sadar police station," said SI Naimul.

Narsingdi Superintendent of Police Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman said, "Nurtaj Begum was arrested with drugs on Wednesday night. She already had a drug case against her. On the night of the incident, Nurtaj fell ill and was admitted to Narsingdi District Hospital. She died around 8:00am on Thursday."

Nurtaj's body was sent to the Narsingdi Sadar Hospital morgue for an autopsy. An executive magistrate is investigating the matter.