DB chief: Milton found pleasure in people's suffering in torture cell

While conducting surgeries to address issues of rotting in various body parts of the poor and helpless seeking refuge at the "Child and Old Age Care" shelter, Milton Samadder, the shelter's chairman, took to cutting them with a blade himself.

The helpless victims endured inhumane suffering, crying out, while Milton derived pleasure. In this way, he basically operated a torture cell.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch (DB) chief Additional Commissioner Harunor Rashid shared these details with reporters at his office on Minto Road on Sunday afternoon.

Following a three-day remand in a case filed at Mirpur Model police station, Harun provided insights from Milton Samadder's interrogation.

He expressed disbelief at how someone like Milton Samadder could descend into such depravity. Milton tortured and operated on people with blades, referring to them as "monkeys" and inflicting fatal beatings. He confessed to deriving pleasure from these atrocities. Evidence, including a blade and knife from the alleged operation theatre, was seized.

Harun emphasized the severity of Milton Samadder's crimes, which were not isolated incidents but a series of horrific acts. Despite possessing Tk1.25 crore in his account, he neglected to provide treatment to those in need, instead leading operations himself.

“Anyone associated with him, including those who supported and collaborated with him on Facebook, will face legal consequences,” he added.

Harun recounted the journey of Milton Samadder as a boy from Wazirpur who assaulted his father, came to Dhaka, stole from a pharmacy, and then established a shelter. There, he gathered helpless individuals — children, elderly, paralyzed, speech-impaired, and mentally unstable — and exploited them for financial gain through Facebook followers, neglecting their welfare.

Regarding the deaths of 900 individuals at the shelter, Harun said: “No proper burials were conducted, with ceremonies held in secrecy, relatives left uninformed, and death certificates falsely signed and sealed. Investigations will uncover the truth.”

Relatives were barred from visiting children at the shelter. Harun vowed to unveil the fate of these children and take action against those involved.

Milton Samadder claimed that only 135 people died, burying them without proper documentation. However, Harun insisted that the actual death toll was 900, demanding accountability.

He condemned the mistreatment of autistic children, particularly shameful in a country where Bangabandhu's granddaughter, Saima Wazed Putul, renowned globally for her work with autism, assumes the role of regional director of the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia.