VDP Member Dies After Falling Ill on Duty at Gaibandha Puja Mandap, Second Such Death in Same Upazila

A Village Defence Party (VDP) member, Md Tara Mia, 56, has died after falling ill while on duty at a Durga Puja mandap in Sadullapur, Gaibandha, on the day of Dashami. The district Ansar and VDP department, citing doctors, said he died after suffering a heart attack.

District Ansar and VDP office commandant Abu Solaiman (BVMS) confirmed the matter by mobile phone on Wednesday night (October 21). Tara Mia died at around 4:15 pm that day while being taken to Rangpur for better treatment.

Tara Mia was the son of Nasim Uddin of Maheshpur village in Sadullapur upazila. He was a member of the Village Defence Party and had been deployed on security duty at a mandap for the puja.

According to the district Ansar and VDP office and local sources, Tara Mia was on duty at the Purba Kishamat Hamid Sarbojanin Durga Mandir in the upazila for Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community. He fell ill there at around 2:30 pm.

After falling ill, he was quickly taken to Sadullapur Upazila Health Complex. Doctors there advised taking him to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for better treatment.

However, as his condition deteriorated further on the way to Rangpur, relatives took him to Pirganj Upazila Health Complex in Rangpur, where the doctor on duty declared him dead.

Gaibandha Ansar and VDP district commandant Abu Solaiman said Tara Mia fell ill while on puja duty and died on the way to Rangpur, and that doctors initially indicated he had died of a heart attack.

He added that, as one of Tara Mia's sons is away, the family has set the janaza for 10 am on Thursday. The force has given the bereaved family immediate assistance of Tk 50,000.

Notably, this is the second death of its kind in the same upazila during puja duty. Earlier, on October 18, another VDP member, Mst Parveen Begum, 45, fell ill while on duty at the Kishamat Barobari Sarbojanin Durga Mandir in the same upazila and died while undergoing treatment in hospital.

The district Ansar and VDP department, citing her death certificate, said Parveen Begum had been admitted to hospital with diarrhoea but ultimately died after a heart attack. She was the daughter of Mafizul Haque of Kishamat Barobari village in Damodarpur union and a trained VDP member.

This year Durga Puja is being celebrated at 632 mandaps and temples in Gaibandha district, where a total of 4,202 male and female Ansar and VDP members are on duty. Two female Ansar and VDP members are deployed at each mandap and temple.

The deaths of two members on duty in quick succession have cast a pall of grief locally. While initial assistance from the force has reached the families, questions are now being raised in concerned quarters about health protection and emergency medical arrangements for members on duty.