Dhaka Medical ENT Chief Attacked, Hospitalised

Professor Md Asadur Rahman, head of the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, has been attacked and injured by a group of assailants in the capital.

The 55-year-old doctor was assaulted late on Monday night after leaving his private chamber at a branch of Popular Diagnostic Centre in Shantinagar. He was reportedly attacked as he was getting into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw to return to his home in Mohammadpur.

According to Rashedul Islam, an employee of Popular Diagnostic Centre who took the injured doctor to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, four to five people stopped the auto-rickshaw before attacking Professor Asadur with locally made weapons. He suffered injuries to his head, eyes and nose and was left bleeding following the assault.

Professor Asadur is now receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. No detailed statement has yet been provided on his condition, and people speaking on his behalf have declined to comment on the incident while he remains under treatment.

The motive behind the attack has not been conclusively established. However, police said a dispute over the treatment of a patient has emerged as a possible reason.

Paltan police station officer-in-charge Mostafa Kamal Khan said a case had been filed over the assault and that one person had been arrested in connection with it. According to the police, the arrested man claimed to be a friend of the patient concerned.

The man reportedly told investigators that he and others attacked Professor Asadur because they believed the patient had received ‘wrong treatment’. Police, however, have stressed that the allegation came from the patient’s associates and has not yet been independently established.

“This is the statement of the patient’s relatives. However, we believe the matter requires further investigation. We are continuing our work,” the officer said.

Rashedul Islam said Professor Asadur had finished seeing patients at his private chamber in the third building of Popular Diagnostic Centre’s Shantinagar branch before leaving for home. He was getting into the auto-rickshaw when the group allegedly intercepted him.

Rashedul said he could not identify the attackers or explain what had prompted them to target the doctor. The circumstances surrounding the assault therefore remain under investigation.

Police are expected to examine the circumstances leading up to the attack, the relationship between the arrested man and the patient, and the claims made about the treatment. Investigators will also need to establish whether others were involved and what role they may have played.

The incident has raised concerns over the safety of doctors, particularly when disputes over medical treatment escalate into violence. In this case, however, the precise motive and the full circumstances of the assault have yet to be established.

For now, Professor Asadur Rahman remains under medical care at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, while police continue their investigation into the attack.