In a bizarre twist of poetic justice, a "dope kingpin" passed out after being forced by furious passengers to drink his own spiked juice – the very same potion he had used to knock out two women and steal their jewellery on a train in northern Bangladesh.
The incident unfolded in the early hours of Saturday, August 30, aboard the Chilahati-bound Simanta Express, which departed from Khulna. In the ‘Jha’ compartment, a seemingly ordinary passenger, Phool Mia, seated at number 77, struck up a friendly conversation with a mother and daughter, Kaushila Roy and her daughter Bithi, travelling from Birampur to Syedpur.
Appearing harmless, Phool Mia offered them a refreshing drink. Without suspicion, the two women accepted. Moments later, they slumped unconscious.
That’s when Phool Mia allegedly removed their gold earrings and nose rings, a well-practiced move, police say, for the man believed to be the ringleader of a local drug and theft syndicate linked to the shadowy doping gang widely known as Ajnan Party.
But he hadn’t counted on Abdur Rahim, a retired army personnel, sitting nearby.
“Something felt off,” Rahim told Jago News. “They drank the juice and suddenly couldn’t stay awake. I’ve seen this before, it’s not fatigue. It’s drugging.”
Acting swiftly, Rahim alerted other passengers and arrested Phool Mia on the spot.
When the suspect denied any wrongdoing, the enraged passengers decided on an impromptu, and dramatic, test of truth.
They made him drink his own juice.
Within minutes, Phool Mia collapsed, unconscious.
“The fraud was confirmed right there,” said a railway official. “He literally drank himself into a trap.”
Passengers cheered as the irony sank in: the conman had become his own victim.
The train staff immediately contacted the railway police, and Phool Mia was handed over upon arrival at Syedpur. Both he and the victims were rushed to Syedpur Railway Hospital.
Mahmud-un Nabi, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Syedpur Railway Police Station, confirmed the arrest. “A case has been filed by Rabindra Nath Roy, son of Kaushila Roy. Once the accused and victims regain full consciousness, we will interrogate them and proceed with legal action.”
Phool Mia is no stranger to law enforcement. Locals identify him as the mastermind of the Ajnan Party, a loosely organised but feared network involved in drug trafficking, extortion, and railway-based thefts across the Nilphamari-Dinajpur corridor.
Railway authorities admit that such drugging incidents, though rare, have been on the rise, often targeting elderly passengers or women travelling alone.
“This case could have ended badly,” said OC Nabi. “But thanks to the alertness of a retired army officer and the courage of fellow passengers, justice was served, literally, on the spot.”
As for Phool Mia? He’s now facing charges of theft, assault, and administering harmful substances – and possibly a new nickname: “The juice bandit who juiced himself.”