Milton Samadder accused of assaulting youth who taken elderly woman for shelter
Milton Samadder, who gained widespread recognition for providing shelter and assistance to destitute and helpless people and has also faced allegations of various irregularities, is once again in the spotlight.
He has been accused of assaulting a youth content creator who took an elderly woman to his organisation, Child & Old Age Care, for shelter, allegedly after switching off the electricity at the facility.
The victim, Nahid Hasan, is a content creator known for his work on Facebook page ‘Ujan TV’.
Nahid Hasan said he was assaulted after bringing an elderly woman to Dhaka for medical treatment and arranging shelter for her at Child & Old Age Care, run by Milton Samadder.
He also alleged that he was intimidated and forced to make a statement saying that no money had been sought from the organisation.
In a post on his Facebook page on Wednesday (August 26) morning, Nahid said he had worked tirelessly for three to four consecutive days to arrange treatment and shelter for the elderly woman.
He brought her to Dhaka with financial assistance collected from people and took the initiative to arrange her stay at Child & Old Age Care.
Nahid claimed that the organisation initially demanded Tk18,000 per month to accommodate the woman. They agreed to pay the amount.
In his post, he wrote, “Initially, they demanded Tk18,000 per month to keep the woman. We agreed to pay it. Later, they refused to keep her. I made a Facebook post about their demand for money. Then, when journalists questioned Milton Samadder, he told me to bring a general diary (GD) and said he would keep her. At that time, he did not know me.”
“I prepared the documents and informed him while leaving for Dhaka. He then recognised me and spoke very nicely, asking us to come to his organisation. We reached his organisation at 2:33am on Wednesday.”
Nahid alleged that Milton Samadder behaved badly with him as soon as they began talking. He said Samadder abused him, blaming him for the Facebook post that had led to questions from journalists. At one point, Samadder allegedly assaulted him and struck him in the eye. Nahid also claimed that Samadder grabbed his vest and slapped him, leaving an injury on his chest. He attached a photograph of the alleged injury to his post.
He further alleged that an employee of the organisation, Debashish, grabbed him by the throat when he tried to intervene.
He said he was struggling to breathe. Another person accompanying him, identified as Ilias, was also allegedly assaulted.
According to Nahid, “We were trapped in a place where we did not even have the opportunity to say a word. There were only three of us in front of 20 to 25 people. They switched off the electric lights while beating us. There was nothing we could do. The place had only one road in and out, so there was no way to escape. His organisation is in such an isolated area that even going there in broad daylight would make you shudder. We had no alternative route to get out.
“After some time, they intimidated me and forcibly took a statement from me. You may be able to see it on their page.”
Nahid said that, fearing for his safety after seeing the road and surroundings, he had shared his live location with several of my nearest persons and kept an audio recording running on his mobile phone to record the entire incident.
He alleged that he was later intimidated and forced to give a statement. He said the statement may have been published on the organisation’s social media page.
Nahid said he somehow managed to leave the place and later went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he received treatment. He underwent an eye examination and an X-ray and is currently in Dhaka with his prescription and medicines.
At the end of his post, Nahid expressed his disappointment, saying, “They have kept the elderly woman. But this is how we were repaid for helping her.”
Nahid Hasan told the media that he was considering taking legal action over the incident. He said he would hold a press conference on Wednesday afternoon to provide details.
To seek Milton Samadder’s response, several times tried to contact to two phone numbers listed on the Facebook page of Child & Old Age Care. One number was found to be switched off. Calls to the other number went through several times, but the calls were disconnected once and later went unanswered before the phone was switched off.
A message was also sent via WhatsApp seeking a response to the allegations, but no reply was received. The report will be updated if a response is obtained from the authorities concerned.
Allegations of irregularities against Milton Samadder
Milton Samadder came into the spotlight in 2024. He used to record videos of various humanitarian activities and share them on his Facebook page. However, even then, serious allegations were raised against him, including allegations of selling human organs under the guise of humanitarian work.
Various media reports have also carried allegations of land grabbing in Savar, financial irregularities, discrepancies in records of people under his care, an attempt to take over a church in Barishal, failure to provide medical treatment to elderly residents, forgery of death certificates, and assaulting his own parents.
Following these allegations, he was arrested by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. He was granted bail on July 15, 2024, in a human trafficking case filed with Mirpur Police Station in the capital.