Police in Dhaka have made more arrests over the possession of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD).
According to law enforcers, there are around 15 groups who are involved in usage and peddling of the hallucinogenic drug .
Five individuals, all students of private universities, were arrested from different parts of the capital, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Motijheel division said on Sunday.
Twelve blotting papers containing LSD, Tk46,000 and $100 in cash, marijuana, mobiles phones, and laptops were seized during the raids on Saturday, said DMP Deputy Commissioner Abul Ahad.
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The arrestees have been identified as Saiful Islam Saif, 20, SM Manowar Akib Anan, 20, Nazmus Sakib, 20, Nazmul Islam, 24, and BM Sirajus Salekin Topu, 24.
“Saif, Anan, and Sakib were arrested from the capital’s Malibagh area. On information gleaned from them, Nazmul and Tapu were arrested from Vatara,” said senior police officer Ahad.
“They [the five arrestees] have been selling this drug for the last one year. They buy it online from different countries including some in Europe. The drugs are brought here through courier service or in luggage.
“There are more people involved in all of this. Efforts are underway to identify and arrest them,” he said.
Police said that the drug was being sold through two secret Facebook groups comprising over a thousand members.
Earlier in the day, a Dhaka court remanded – North South University students Sadman Sakib Rupol, 25, and Ashab Wadud Turjo, 22, and Independent University student Adib Ashraf, 23 –for five days on charges of possessing LSD.
They were arrested on May 27 on charges of peddling the hallucinogenic drug in the capital following Dhaka University (DU) student Hafizur Rahman’s death.
Police said DU student Hafizur and three of his friends took LSD in the Curzon Hall area on the university campus on the night of May 15.
The 24-year-old killed himself the same night while tripping, said investigators.
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Hafizur was on his way to Dhaka citing he had some urgent work there the day after Eid-ul-Fitr on May 15.
Hafizur was missing until his body was identified at Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s (DMCH) morgue.
Police quoted passers-by as saying that Hafizur slit his own throat with a machete of a coconut seller in front of DMCH around 8pm that night.
After his identity was discovered, the DB police arrested three private university students while investigating the unusual nature of Hafizur’s death.
The effects of LSD or lysergic acid diethylamide typically include altered thoughts, feelings, and awareness of one's surroundings.
The substance is measured in micrograms and sold in small, often square-shaped blotting papers and administered by keeping it under the tongue for some time. The effects usually kick in within 15 to 90 minutes depending on the dosage and an individual’s physical tolerance.
