Driver held with pickup full of expired medicines bound for Jamuna River

A pickup truck, loaded with expired government-supplied medicines, was intercepted while allegedly being taken to the Jamuna River for disposal in Bhuapur upazila of Tangail.

Local residents detained the driver and handed him over to police in the Gobindasi area around midnight on Wednesday.

Locals said they became suspicious when a goods-laden pickup was seen behaving suspiciously on Kala Road near Gobindasi T-Road and heading towards the Jamuna River. They stopped the vehicle and detained the driver, while others accompanying him managed to flee.

The driver, identified as Azmat, reportedly told locals that the Ghatail Upazila Health Complex had hired him to dump expired government medicines into the Jamuna River.

He also allegedly admitted that government medicines had previously been disposed of in the Jamuna River and several other locations using the same method.

After being informed by locals, the upazila administration alerted police. Officers arrived at the scene and took the seized pickup and its driver to the police station.

Locals have demanded exemplary punishment for everyone involved in the alleged disposal of government medicines.

Bhuapur Police Station OC AKM Rezaul Karim said locals had seized the medicines and the pickup before handing them over to police.

''We brought them to the police station and informed the higher authorities. Legal action is underway.''