Milton Samadder has been the talk of the town for the past few days. While rumours and dramatic tales about him have taken over social media, traditional media has mostly relied on the Detective Branch (DB) of police over the last two days.

DB arrested Milton following a report published in the Daily Dinkal. Harun Or Rashid, chief of DB, gave reporters information about his alleged heinous activities. The police also interrogated Milton's wife at the DB office.

Milton established the "Child and Old Age Care" facility in Paikpara, Mirpur, in 2014. He runs another facility of this kind in Savar, where he takes people off the streets who are homeless or who have physical or mental impairments and gives them a place to stay.

The broad allegations made against him, as reported by the media, are as follows:

- Financial misappropriation involving "crores of taka" donated by individuals; corruption and lack of transparency in financial matters.

- At the centres he managed, around 900 people passed away in the last ten years. The whereabouts and methods of burial for 835 of the deceased are unknown. Milton personally issued the death certificates of these individuals.

- He sold their kidneys and other organs to the rich people.

- There is an operation theatre at his shelter home.

At a press conference, the DB chief described the allegations against Milton as "unnerving". He said that he is a "dangerous psychopath". As per his statement:

- Milton would dissect the limbs and organs of the sick residents of his shelters using knives and blades. He would not take them to any hospital.

- Milton would say that there were 500–700 people living in his shelters, but in actuality, there were only 30–40. To raise money, he would produce videos featuring details about 500–700 sheltered people. There are 1.60 crore followers on his Facebook page. He has about 10 to 12 bank accounts, with Tk 1.85 crore in his personal bank account.

- There is a discrepancy in the burial numbers. He would bury people at night and make death certificates by faking doctors' identities.

- He used to beat mentally ill people with sticks at night. At his shelters, he kept torture cells. Their cries and screams would be audible to those nearby.

Multiple doctors have raised questions about the allegation that Milton Samadder traded kidney and other organs. Skilled doctors, nurses and technicians as well as modern operation theatres are necessary for kidney and other organ transfers. These were not available at Milton's shelters. Besides, there are other questions about the allegations against Milton:

Why did it take 10 years for the police to learn that Milton Samadder is a "dangerous psychopath"?

Why did victims' screams not reach anyone in the neighbourhoods near the shelters? Why didn't they report it to the police?

Milton must have received many cash donations. But he received more money through bKash and the banking channel, especially from foreign countries. He collected money openly via Facebook. How come no state agency raised a red flag about this in the last 10 years? We hear that Facebook and YouTube, as well as the banking sector, are monitored for questionable transactions. How is it that no one came to know anything about Milton's transactions?

Is this because of Milton's "talent" and shrewdness, or is it the incapability and inefficiency of those whose responsibility it is to identify and prevent such criminals?

Translated from Bangla by Tamanna Khan.

Golam Mortoza is the editor of The Daily Star Bangla.