For nearly five decades, Radda MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur-1 has been a healthcare lifeline for thousands of low-income families, providing maternal care, child vaccination and reproductive health services.
But a midnight raid that left the facility demolished has turned the around Tk100 crore property into the centre of a dispute involving allegations of political influence, police inaction and failure of institutional oversight.
A Tk10 crore deal was allegedly negotiated to take control of the Radda MCH-FP Centre, with claims that a reserved-seat MP, local BNP leaders and police officials were influenced before the attack, looting and demolition took place at the healthcare facility in the capital.
Several signboards were later installed at the site in the name of Shomomona Dokandar Samabay Samity Limited.
The cooperative society that claimed the property was headed by reserved-seat MP Ferdousi Ahmed Mishti. She served as its president from 2002 to 2006 and, on 29 September 2004, applied to the housing and public works minister for allocation of the land using the society’s letterhead, documents say.
Some people have since alleged that she was linked to the takeover, a claim she has denied.
The 10-katha property in Mirpur is estimated by locals to be worth around Tk100 crore. People familiar with the matter alleged that the cooperative collected Tk2 lakh each from 150 members on the promise of allocating shops on the land, creating a Tk30 crore fund.
At around midnight on Thursday, more than 200 masked people carrying local weapons entered the premises, according to officials and witnesses. They allegedly held two security guards hostage before looting equipment, medicines, vaccines, cash and other valuables.
The attackers later used heavy machinery to demolish the entire facility, including one permanent building and three semi-permanent structures.
A case was filed with Shah Ali Police Station on Friday and police arrested four people on Saturday. However, alleged mastermind Hanif Mia has not yet been arrested.
Mirpur Division Deputy Commissioner of Police Naser Rikabdar told TIMES that an operation was underway to arrest Hanif and others involved.
Questions over police response during the incident prompted the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to form a three-member committee. DMP Commissioner Mosleh Uddin Ahmed said action would be taken against police personnel if their involvement was found.
He said political leaders or influential individuals would also face legal action if their names emerged during the investigation.
For patients who depended on Radda, however, said the immediate concern is the loss of essential healthcare services.
On Saturday, patients continued arriving at the centre for vaccinations and treatment, only to find a damaged and non-functional facility.
Healthcare workers said many of those who relied on Radda were women, children and low-income families who could not afford private treatment.
“Many people used to come here every day for vaccinations and treatment. Many tests were conducted here. All the machines have been looted,” cleaner Gabriel said.
Vaccinator Kohinur Begum said the centre provided vaccination services from 9am to 4pm, except on government holidays, and also offered healthcare facilities for women.
“Vaccination activities continue until 2pm every Saturday. More than a hundred children received measles vaccines here on Saturday as well,” she added.
Radda Executive Director Dr Nasrin Akhter said the organisation had operated from the site after receiving allocation from the Ministry of Health in 1976. She said nobody had ever asked them to leave and that no notice had been served.
“The Thursday attack caused damage worth Tk1.5 crore,” she said, adding that criminals had attempted to occupy the site in 2009, but local people resisted the move.
The incident has raised questions over how a long-running healthcare facility could become the centre of a dispute without a formal administrative or legal resolution.
Radda officials said they had operated from the land for nearly five decades after receiving government allocation, while those linked to the cooperative society claimed they had obtained allocation and registration from the Housing and Public Works authorities.
Legal experts say disputes over ownership or allocation of public land are normally resolved through administrative and judicial processes rather than force.
Deputy Clinic In-charge Noor Mohammad said attackers entered the premises by climbing over the rear wall around midnight.
“They looted goods in three trucks. Using an excavator from the front side, they demolished the one-storey building and tin structures. They also cut down the mango tree with the machine.”
Some 23 staff members and three doctors work at the centre, where women and children from Mirpur and nearby Savar have received services for decades.
“If there were any court orders, magistrates and police would carry out activities during the daytime. A notice would be served first. But what happened here was a terrible act of vandalism,” regretted Director (Community Health) Iqbal Zillur Majid said.
Talking to TIMES, Director (Administration and Finance) Ahsan Habib alleged that police were informed during the incident but failed to stop the attack.
“People were sent to Shah Ali Police Station. Once, police arrived at the site, spoke with the miscreants and left after the attackers showed them a paper claiming ownership of the property. The looting and vandalism continued for two hours. When police arrived on Friday morning, everything was over,” he lamented.
Hanif Mia, identified by locals as one of the key figures behind the incident, is a former member of the Dhaka Metropolitan North BNP convening committee, according to a shopkeeper near Mirpur Muktijoddha Market.
Hanif is the brother-in-law of MP Ferdousi Ahmed Mishti, wife of former Dhaka City Corporation ward commissioner Sayedur Rahman Newton and sister of former MP Nasir Uddin Ahmed Pintu. Newton’s maternal cousin is Hanif Mia.
After Newton was killed in a shooting on Mirpur Road on 10 May 2002, Mishti was elected as a ward commissioner. She later became a reserved women’s seat MP in the current parliament from BNP.
TIMES found documents showing Mishti’s association with the cooperative society. Contacted by TIMES, Mishti said she had served as president of the society while she was a ward commissioner and had applied for land allocation at that time.
However, she denied involvement in the vandalism, takeover and looting at Radda and denied giving any instructions to police.
Several traders from Mirpur Muktijoddha Market and Mukta Bangla Shopping Complex said Radda had received government allocation for the land, but Hanif and BNP activist Shah Alam’s group claimed they had obtained allocation and registration from the Housing and Public Works authorities.
Multiple local BNP leaders and activists, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals, alleged that the property worth around Tk100 crore was taken over through a Tk10 crore deal involving an MP, political leaders and police officials. Ordinary labourers were used to carry out the takeover at night.
“If the society were the legal owner, they would have come during the day with administrative support. Their actions show that they were illegal,” one local BNP activist argued.
The incident has drawn criticism from political figures within BNP, with several leaders saying the allegations had damaged the party’s image and demanding punishment for those responsible.
Former general secretary of greater Mirpur thana BNP Mosharraf Hossain Moshu told TIMES that the site had been a health centre for Biharis during the Pakistan period.
“After the Liberation War, it remained abandoned. In 1976, Radda received allocation of the site and started operations. They built tin structures beside the old one-storey building,” he said.
Referring to several people, Moshu said the cooperative society collected Tk2 lakh each from 150 people promising to allocat shops.
“After creating a Tk30 crore fund and spending some money on court proceedings, Tk10 crore was spent to take control of the land,” he said.
Questioning the role of police during the destruction Dhaka Metropolitan, North Jubo Dal Member Secretary Sajjadul Miraj said, “Even after being informed, police did not arrive. They came after an hour and left.”
He demanded punishment for those involved.
A local Jubo Dal leader alleged that Hanif Mia and Shah Alam of BNP were involved in the incident. “They managed everyone and carried out this work through a Tk10 crore deal.”
Shah Ali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Jahangir Alam told TIMES on Saturday afternoon that efforts were underway to identify and arrest those involved.
Radda MCH-FP Centre began operations in 1974 to provide maternal and child healthcare services to disadvantaged and low-income communities in Mirpur. Established through an initiative of Swedish Save the Children’s organisation Radda Barnen, it provides reproductive health and family planning services, antenatal and postnatal care, child vaccination, child healthcare and community health services.
Its three permanent clinics also offer diagnostic services, including pathology, biochemistry and haematology tests, according to patients’ needs.
Although the main centre is located in Mirpur-10, its services extend to Mirpur-1, Bawnia Basti, Uttara, Bhasantek slum and Old Dhaka.
The institution’s board of trustees includes several prominent figures.
Industrialist and International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman is the chairperson of the trustee board, while Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and social worker Taherunnesa Abdullah serves as treasurer.
Former bureaucrat Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury, businessmen ASM Kashem and AK Azad, and former secretary Abdul Karim are also members of the board.
Former caretaker government adviser Kazi Fazlur Rahman, renowned gynaecologist Professor TA Chowdhury and engineer Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury had also served on the board.
The office of Shomomona Dokandar Samabay Samity Limited, located at Baishakhi Super Market beside Sony Cinema Hall, was found locked on Saturday afternoon.
Other shopkeepers at the market said they knew nothing about the organisation.
