Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) has become a safe haven for brokers, who stage demonstrations with lethal weapons and engage in clashes within the premises, spreading fear and insecurity among doctors, staff, patients, and their attendants.
Sources say several broker groups including the Hannan group, Shahadat group and Imon group have long been active at the country’s largest public hospital.
They allegedly divert treatment seekers to private diagnostic centres and clinics of their choice, luring them with promises of tests and bed facilities.
Witnesses said sporadic clashes between members of the two groups have taken place on the hospital premises over the past few days as they try to assert dominance over one another.
Because of the brokers’ influence, doctors, nurses, and ward boys are said to be carrying out their duties in fear. Allegations of financial fraud, including extorting money from patients and their relatives by holding them hostage, surface almost daily.
When contacted, a senior DMCH official acknowledged the matter but declined to comment further.
Shahbagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge Khalid Mansur said on Friday that a case has been filed in this regard. “Police are conducting drives to arrest the accused,” he told TIMES of Bangladesh.
Admitting their activities, a broker, wishing to remain anonymous, said, “Patients come here from different parts of the country. We help the patients and relatives in exchange for some tips.”
“But the violent activities of the Hannan and Shahadat groups put us into trouble,” he added.
According to sources, the Hannan group had long controlled the syndicate of brokers at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Hannan, a resident of Dhaka’s Chankharpul, is a partner of A-One Hospital in Malibagh and owns several diagnostic centres in Old Dhaka.
After the student-led mass uprising last year, control of the brokers’ network shifted to Shahadat Hossain, a former Dhaka University Chhatra Dal leader recently suspended from the organisation, who allegedly formed a new syndicate. The current clashes are rooted in the struggle for dominance and control over this network.
TIMES of Bangladesh attempted to contact Hannan by phone, but he disconnected the call immediately.
Clashes erupt over control
Witnesses said at least 50 brokers from both groups are active inside DMCH, along with several smaller groups.
On Wednesday night, members of the Hannan group attacked Shahadat group brokers on the hospital premises. During the clash, at least 10 people, including Shahadat group members Iman and Saddam, were injured. The attackers fled when police and on-duty Ansar personnel intervened.
Around 7pm on Thursday, more than 50 members of the Hannan group again staged a show of force, brandishing machetes, daggers, samurai swords, and cleavers. Witnesses said terrified patients, relatives, doctors, and staff were left so vulnerable that several gates of DMCH were shut for security.
Tipped off, Shahbagh police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
A hospital employee said most of the brokers are drug addicts. Apart from other crimes, they often hold helpless patients from rural areas hostage and extort money to finance their addiction.
A female patient from Panchagarh said brokers took Tk5,000 in advance on the pretext of conducting medical tests for her husband, assuring her they would take him to a diagnostic centre in Old Dhaka. When delivering the report, they demanded another Tk5,000. After an argument, they threatened and intimidated her, eventually extorting Tk2,500. She identified one of the brokers as Rafiq.
Relatives of several admitted patients said ward doors were shut in panic during the clashes between the two groups. Expressing concern, they alleged that such acts of violence in the country’s most important hospital are completely unacceptable.
