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at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, according to detectives.

This newspaper managed to talk with Mizanur while he was being taken to court after his arrest.

Hailing from Faridpur, Mizanur studied at a madrasa in Khulna. He dropped out, came to Dhaka and started selling Islamic books and candy at the capital’s Moghbazar in 2000, with his uncle Mukul Molla.

Three years later, he started selling different Ayurvedic medicines on buses and trains and started stealing valuables from people using sedatives.

Mizanur said he speaks Arabic fluently, which made it easy for him to charm commuters.

It all started when he met a person named Dulal while selling books. The person praised Mizan’s marketing skills, gave him medicines and said he will pay Tk 500 for each sale. At that time, Mizan didn’t know he was getting involved with a criminal gang. But after the first operation, he soon realised what Dulal actually meant by medicines, and gradually found himself to be a member.

The passengers go to sleep within 20 minutes to half an hour after consuming the medicines. Sometimes, the gang puts powerful sedatives on tissue paper and puts that in front of the passenger’s nose to make them unconscious, said Mizanur.

DB DC Mashiur Rahman said a little awareness is needed to protect oneself. “The bus driver and helper should be aware, and people should not eat anything from strangers.”

The official added that they will talk with bus-company owners to not let any hawkers get on board.